From Love to Hate
by Mex-chick
Summary: If one claims to love a person one day, and hates that same person the next, were such sweet emotions ever present? Another take on the BEFORE NARAKU incident:InuKik
1. Hi! My name is

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Period.

The story of Inuyasha and Kikyou...to me, a Japanese version of the infamous couple Romeo and Juliet, except, y'know, there's demons, magic and reincarnations to consider but...yeah. So anyway, this is a story about Inuyasha and Kikyou, obviously, _before_ Naraku got his filthy little self involved. So if you absolutely loath and detest this pairing so much that to you its just a piece of dog shit puked on by a 40-year old guy who still lives with his mom, then its safe to say that this story is not for you. If you flame me for the pairing, I will consider you a person with no intelligence whatsoever that not even words that haven't been invented yet can describe. For the record, I don't like this pairing either but can't say I hate it too. It's a kind of neutral thing. I just thought it'd be interesting to try and understand this tragic couple and how they went _form love to hate_ so easily...or did they? And with that said, I present to you chapter one of my story, cleverly titled: **_From Love to Hate._** Enjoy.

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(((((((((((((((((

%#$**_Scroll One_**$#%

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Hi! My name is...

"You'd better not be lying!"

"I'm not! I swear! The village is--," the tiny demon pointed to his right, "that way! **That way!**"

The "big" demon looked in the direction the smaller one was pointing at. Sure enough, he could feel a strong presence there.

It had to be her.

The priestess who guarded the Shikon no Tama, or Jewel of Four Souls.

Of course, this wasn't just any jewel.

This jewel was a _very special_ jewel.

It possessed unimaginable strength and gave any demon or evil human who managed to obtain it unrivaled strength. If this jewel could even satisfy a human, the demon, or rather, _half_ demon _knew_ he could use it to his advantage.

The half demon released the frightened smaller demon, who had been currently struggling for a breath or two under his powerful grip. He fell hard on the ground but quickly straightened himself and looked up tensely at his bully. The half demon jumped onto a nearby tree branch and, before going to his destination, turned around to face his victim saying, "I'll be watching you..." more intensely than he had meant to say it. The tiny traumatized demon gulped nervously and scurried away.

The half demon looked back towards the distant village.

__

'Finally, a way for me to become all demon at last.'

And with that thought in mind, he jumped his way towards the awaiting village.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Lady Kikyou! Lady Kikyou! It went this way!" cried a villager, pointing hysterically to the forest.

Kikyou rushed past him, an arrow ready in position for the kill.

This was not good.

She had let her guard down for _one_ second and that one second was enough for this lowlife demon to snatch the jewel from under her nose.

She ran deeper into the forest, cursing herself mentally for being so careless when she was forced to make a sudden stop.

__

'What's this?!'

It was a strong presence she had felt which had made her halt, and it was coming towards her at an alarmingly quick pace. A demon, no doubt about it, but this one was different...

At that moment, the demon who had taken the Jewel from her, which happened to be a snake demon, popped out from behind her, catching her off guard for the second time that day. Fortunately, she was able to evade the deadly fangs of the snake, who had grown considerably in size since their last encounter.

'_No matter...it just makes for a bigger target.'_

And with that, she pulled back her arrow as far as her bow would allow it and let go.

He was close.

He could _feel_ it.

In only a matter of moments, he would finally become the demon he had desired to be all his life.

Then, something made him stop.

He had heard someone running and that person stopped as well.

He hid in the thick leaves of a tree and searched for the person from his hiding place.

'_There you are..._' he thought as he looked down at a girl wearing priestess clothing. At that exact moment, a huge snake popped out from behind her.

Somehow, the girl miraculously dodged the snake's fangs and hit the snake right in between the eyes with her arrow (_'Damn! The bitch can shoot!'). _With a loud hiss, the snake fell to the ground. She ran towards the snake, dug her hand in its flesh ('_What the hell_!') and pulled out a tiny pink sphere. The snake shriveled up and its remains were taken away by the wind.

__

'That MUST be the Shikon Jewel!' thought the half demon excitedly.

__

'Then she must be--'

"Whoever you are, show yourself."

Uh oh.

Was she talking to him? Had he been spotted? But how could she have seen him? Her back was towards him! Oh well. He would have made his presence known sooner or later anyway.

He jumped from the tree and landed on the forest ground. As he regained his balance, he took a moment to study the girl's features.

She was tall, with long black hair trailing well below her waist. It was tied back neatly, with some strands hanging loose, covering her ears. She had on priestess clothing, the color white for her top, and red for her extremely baggy pants. He couldn't completely see her face yet, because her back was still towards him, but he really didn't care. She carried some arrows on her back, and her bow was held firmly by her left hand.

"So...you must be the infamous priestess who possesses the Shikon Jewel."

"Thanks for stating the obvious. I know you've been there for a while. Tell me, who are you and what business have you here?"

"Don't give me that! You know _exactly_ why I'm here! Hand over the jewel NOW!"

!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!

Kikyou turned around to face the impatient demon.

The first thing she noticed about him were those two cute little ears neatly located on top of his head. Just looking at them made her want to touch them. He had long silver hair that traveled below his waist and possessed the most amazing golden eyes she had ever seen. The _only_ pair of golden eyes she had ever seen, actually. Yet pretty nonetheless. He also had the strangest looking aura she had ever encountered. Usually, demons had a dark blue aura all around them, and the human aura was white. But this one had a baby blue aura with golden highlights surrounding him.

What was he?

__

'Could he be...half? That would explain his half-transformed look...'

She continued to ponder about him, gazing at him with her same expressionless face. Meanwhile, the demon was getting impatient.

"Well! What are you waiting for?" he finally blurted out. "Hand the jewel over and I _might_ spare your life."

"You have not answered my question. Who are you?"

"_That_ doesn't concern you!"

"What's your name?"

"Just hand it over!"

"What's your _name_?"

"Just give it!"

__

'I'm getting nowhere fast.' Kikyou thought. She had never met such a stubborn demon..._or_ _human_ like this before in her life.

"What are you, deaf? Hand it over unless you want to feel the..._caress_ of my claws..." he threatened, cracking his knuckles maliciously.

"Go ahead and try." Kikyou challenged, and drew an arrow, ready for a fight.

__

'Well, **this** I wasn't expecting...' thought the half demon.

He had figured he would just find the jewel, scare the jewel from its guardian and continue on his way. He really _did not_ want to hurt a human because then his _consciences_, a part of the mind that was absent in most demons, would make him _feel_ bad. He didn't really felt any urge to kill her anyway.

__

'I'll just **pretend** to try and kill her. I mean, nothing wrong with a bruise or two. Then she'll be **begging** me to take the jewel...' he thought. Too bad he didn't know he couldn't have been more wrong.

"You asked for it!" he yelled.

He ran towards Kikyou and dodged her arrow, which missed him by a mile, it seemed.

__

'So much for being able to shoot.' He thought.

He jumped high enough to do a forward flip over her. He landed with his back towards her and turned around hastily to "strike" her.

But something went horribly wrong.

As he spun around to face the priestess, he saw multiple arrows coming towards him at top speed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

__

'Got you!' she thought as the demon let his guard down when he saw her arrow miss him considerably.

When he jumped and did a flip in midair, she took advantage of this short time to take her arrows and shoot them at him repeatedly.

And they all hit their target, of course.

()()()()()()()()()()

__

'What the--!' thought the half demon as the arrows pulled him back and pinned him hard to a tree. He shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the pain of the arrows' strikes to take effect, but he felt nothing.

He opened one fearful amber eye and looked from side to side.

He was defiantly pinned to a tree but felt no pain, because the arrows weren't aimed at him, just his clothes. Good thing they were so baggy.

=============

Kikyou walked up to him, with the same expressionless face she always had.

"I'll ask you again," she said calmly.

"What is your name?"

He looked down at her with a strange expression.

"...well? Aren't you gonna kill me now?"

Okay.

Now she was getting annoyed.

All she wanted to know was his _name_ for goodness sake! But if he thought she was just going to stand there all day until he _felt_ like saying it, he was most certainly mistaken.

__

'I don't have time for this...' she thought.

Kikyou turned around and started to make her way towards the village. Before she got too far though, she said:

"Don't come back here. You'll waste both our times."

When he saw her make her way towards the village, he was both surprised and confused.

Why hadn't she killed him?

He had tried to take the jewel from her and had almost killed her, or he made it seem that way, and she did nothing...nothing except ask for his name...

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

"INUYASHA!" cried a voice from behind her.

Kikyou turned around.

The voice was that of the half demon!

She gave him a confused look.

"What was that?"

"You said you wanted to know my name...its Inuyasha..."

"...Mine's Kikyou."

"I don't recall asking for it!" Inuyasha spat out.

"I know...just thought _you'd_ like to know..."

And with that, she turned back around to go back to the village.

"Feh!" She heard as she walked away.

__

'Inuyasha, huh?' she thought, and for the first time that day, Kikyou smiled.

Well, that's it. Don't expect quick updates. This isn't the only story I'm working on... Meanwhile, don't forget to review!


	2. A Same Difference

Disclaimer: Needless to say, I don't own Inuyasha. You are a very evil person for making me admit it.

Thank you everyone for all those wonderful reviews! I got more than I expected for a InuXKik story! Well, I just hope I don't disappoint you. I will do my best to make this story up to most of your standards. If you read my bio, you should've been informed that this would be posted a week from July 19, 2004.

I lied.

So it's a day late. Sue me. I didn't know my brother was getting another DDR mat!

WARNING: This story may not be suitable for people who waste their lives hating. Of course, when I say hating, I mean hating Kikyou. Do not say I did not warn you, because I will only respond by saying a sentence that contains the words _Inuyasha_,_ Kikyou_,_ bed_,_ love_ and _happily ever after_ in a specific order, in which case you will respond to by exploding. Arigato and enjoy. And remember, Bush does not give a damn, so you shouldn't give a fu--::gets abducted by the government::

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Scroll Two

A Same Difference

Kikyou was resting against a tree, looking off into the distance as she usually did. But unlike most other times, she found herself thinking about..._him_. That half-demon who called himself Inuyasha. And she didn't like it.

She didn't like it at all.

'Why am I constantly thinking about him? Is it because I feel we are so much alike? Alike in being total outcasts? Or is it something...else?' she thought.

He hadn't shown up since their last encounter, which had been two days ago, and somehow, it saddened Kikyou. She had thought that he'd be more persistent than that. If he had heeded her words, he would be the first.

She carefully took off the sacred jewel that adorned her neck. It had been a short three weeks since she had been given it. Ever since then, many demons and humans alike had come to try and take it from her.

All had failed.

As she looked at the jewel, her face started to show some expression as it turned sad.

'Maybe under different circumstances...'

She closed her hand tightly around the jewel and held it against her chest.

'Maybe...'

"Sister Kikyou! Sister Kikyou! I have found the herbs ye wanted me to find!"

Kikyou was brought back to reality by her younger sister's outburst. She saw her running towards her with a handful of healing herbs that she had been assigned to find.

"Good job Kaede. You have made your elder sister proud." Kikyou said when she finished examining the herbs. Kaede laughed. "Thank you, sister."

It was then that Kaede noticed Kikyou holding something in her fist.

"What is that?" Kaede asked.

Kikyou looked down towards her hand and noticed the jewel was still clenched tightly in her fist.

"The sacred jewel." she began, showing Kaede the whole jewel, "I have been entrusted with the duty of keeping it pure."

"Really? Why?" Kaede asked.

"The lord of these lands has asked me to guard it."

"Why?"

"I am the only one who can keep it purified."

"Why?"

"Kaede, you ask too many questions. Come, we must take these herbs to the village across the river. They are in desperate need for them."

"Yes, sister."

Kikyou and Kaede made their way towards the neighboring village, going as quickly as possible towards their destination. On their way there, Kikyou couldn't help but think of that _hanyou_ again.

'Why do I constantly think of him?' she thought. _'This is not how I am.'_

"What is troubling ye sister?"

Kaede's question startled her. Not only because she forgot Kaede was with her, but also because Kaede could tell something was up.

"Nothing is the matter." Kikyou said, ignoring the face her sister made, which implied that she didn't believe her.

'Is it **that** obvious?'

Just then, the lord of the lands that Kikyou had spoken of was coming in their direction.

"Kaede, stand aside. The lord is coming." She whispered to her younger sister.

Both Kikyou and Kaede stood to the side of the path they were traveling in, making way for the lord to pass by them. As he passed, Kikyou bowed down to him politely, without making eye contact, as was the custom. As he passed, she noticed that a beautiful woman with long black hair, dressed in dark priestess clothing accompanied him.

Kaede's curiosity was going berserk this morning, and she _had_ to ask her elder sister,

"Sister, who was that priestess."

"Her name is Tsubaki." Answered Kikyou, watching them disappear into the distance. "Hurry. The people are waiting." Kikyou said, before Kaede could ask anymore questions.

Kikyou and Kaede hurried their way towards the village where many villagers had been bitten by a demon rat. (Yes, a demon rat. I can't think of anything else right now!) Fortunately, the villagers had destroyed it, and though some had gotten away with only scratches and bruises, others had not been so lucky. It was those unlucky few whom Kikyou had to attend to.

After asking where the injured villagers were, Kikyou and Kaede went to help them. As they entered the hut, Kikyou saw that it was only five men who had been injured.

After examining their injuries, Kikyou ordered a bowl of water and settled down to work. It was, as if Kikyou was a doctor and Kaede a nurse, bringing anything Kikyou needed for the "operation".

It was sometime after lunch when Kikyou was bandaging up the last man, carefully wrapping his torso, where he had been hit. He had luckily dodged the rat's attack, making his injury the least worse out of all the men.

"A couple days of bed rest and you should be able to walk around again. Until then, do not make any sudden movements or attempts to stand up." Said Kikyou, keeping a monotonous voice. She was so used to that lifeless voice hers now.

"I shall inform the lord of the great deed you have performed today." Said the man. "I am sure he will reward you."

Kikyou continued to bandage him, but couldn't help the curiosity that was starting to consume her mind. It seemed this man knew the lord quite well.

"There is no need for his highness to know of my actions. I am merely carrying out my duty as a priestess." She responded.

"Yet it will mean a great deal to him, for you see, I am his nephew." He said.

Kikyou couldn't help but look up at him in utter amazement. What was a man like him doing in a poor village like this? He looked like nothing more than a mere villager! He could not possibly be telling the truth!

When he saw that Kikyou said nothing because she did not completely believe him, he said, "I have come to visit my uncle. I am dressed as a villager because I was traveling incognito. I was passing through this village, when I was suddenly attacked by that demon. These other men next to me are my guards." He pointed at the four men next to him, who were sleeping away the day.

"I see..." said Kikyou. "So your lord uncle has not been informed you are here?"

"No, he has not. I have not had a chance to send someone to inform him of my presence." He said.

"Do not worry. I shall send my younger sister to notify him. Kaede, go to the lord's castle and inform him that in this village is his nephew..."

"Oh. I am sorry for not properly introducing myself. My name is Hiroshi Kurabawa. Please tell him that I am injured and in need of assistance to arrive at his castle."

Kaede, who had been silently sitting against a wall in the hut, nodded her head and headed off to the lord's castle.

"It shall be most certainly appreciated, Lady...?" He paused for Kikyou to give her name.

"Kikyou."

"Kikyou, eh? Well, my Lady Kikyou, I thank you for your assistance today."

"There is no need to thank me. As I have said, I am merely carrying out my duties."

And with that, she excused herself from his presence, and headed off to her village.

As she made her way back, she stopped to help out the neighboring villagers with their questions about demons and such, advising them to let her know about any demons that needed to be exterminated instead of them trying to take care of demons themselves. When she was back across the river, she let out a long sigh.

'It's been a long day today.' She thought. She was completely exhausted and wanted to get back to her hut and rest for the rest of the day, even though the sun was still up. In an hour or two, it would be sundown.

Kikyou slowly made her way through the forest, having bow and arrow ready for any ambushes that may be awaiting her. She walked carefully through the path that had been made because of years of traveling to and from the village, keeping eyes and ears alert.

As she was walking, she noticed she had ended up in the same spot where she had met Inuyasha. Her arrows weren't there anymore, but the depth that they had made on the tree would stay for many years.

Inuyasha.

'Where are_ you...?'_ she thought.

As if on cue, she felt her heart start to beat unusually faster, and that only happened when there was danger around. She froze, concentrating all her senses to her surroundings, scanning the area with her eyes, and listening for any unusual noises. She thought she saw something to her right but wasn't sure until she heard something to her right as well. When she saw something jump out at her, she quickly and gracefully shot one, two, three, four, five and six arrows.

'Somehow, I knew it was him.' She thought, fighting the feeling of joy she felt when she saw the demon she had pinned to the tree.

"Dammit, bitch! How the _hell_ did you know I was there!?" he exclaimed. She could tell he was furious, by the way his eyebrows formed a V on his forehead and the violent attempts he made to free himself from her arrows.

"I thought I told you not to come here anymore." She said calmly. Why was she enjoying this so much?

"And you expected me to _listen _to you? Please..."

"You should have. I do not wish to waste any more of my arrows."

"Then stop shooting me, bitch!"

"Then stop coming here."

"Then give me the jewel!"

"No."

"Goddammit! You're a stubborn wench!"

"You're one to talk."

He hated this. He had been spending the last two days devising a plan to confuse her into thinking that she would never see him again and making her let her guard down. Only then would he be able to snatch the jewel from her. Apparently, it hadn't worked.

'How can she be **that** good at archery? She looks just like any other human girl I've seen.'

No she didn't. He knew she wasn't like any other human he had ever met. She was a very calm and emotionless woman, very odd for her kind. Even when he had pretended to try to kill her, she never showed any emotion and stayed as calm as anyone else would have if they were bored to death. And she always had on that poker face of hers and her brown eyes never showed any real emotion. At least not in their last encounter. Today, he saw a mysterious sparkle in her eyes that she tried to hide. What it was, he could not tell.

She knew he would not stop until he had the jewel. But, even so, she could not find the heart to kill him. He reminded her so much of herself. It was not easy being the outcast. Not easy at all.

'He must want the jewel to make himself into a full demon. Only then will the other demons accept and respect him...' Kikyou thought, looking at him with sad eyes.

That look in her eyes was getting on his nerves. Was she feeling sorry for him? For what?

"Hey! What're _you_ lookin' at?"

'I cannot kill someone who is the same as I am...'

"Do you got somethin' to say?!"

'...someone who is also different.'

"...stop staring at me! That look in your eyes is getting on my nerves."

Kikyou turned around and started to go back to the village. Like last time she turned around to tell him not to come anymore. But this time, she meant it.

"Please don't come here anymore...you're a waste of my arrows."

She turned back around and continued walking. But Inuyasha wasn't finished yet...

"Wait up, you! I'm not finished yet! I'm gonna take that jewel from you even if it's the last thing I do!" Inuyasha yelled after her, as she got further and further away.

"YOU HEAR ME!"

Inuyasha watched as she disappeared into the distance, leaving him all alone again, pinned to a tree.

"Damn..."

Oh well.

Tomorrow is another day...

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Yes! I'm finished! This took me two whole nights to finish and I think that's good. All my other chapters took me at least a week to finish. Sorry if some parts don't make sense. I typed this as fast as I could. I tried to make Tsubaki come in this, but she didn't have much to say in this chapter. She will next, though! Promise! Well, whatever. I'm tired. So review okay.

Adios!


	3. 21 Questions

Disclaimer: I...don'townInuyashaoranythingrelatedtoitexcepttheplotofthisstory(forthemostpart)! Okay?! I hope everything is all clear to everybody now...

Yeah...sorry about this late update. IT'S THE INTERNET'S FAULT! I SWEAR! Those stupid pop-ups won't leave me alone! And there's this search engine thingy that won't stop downloading itself into the sites I visit. How can I update anything if I can't even log into Fanfiction?! HUH?! TELL ME!!...sorry. I've had a very stressful month...

Anyway, because I now realize that you guys are enjoying this story and my author alert thing has more people in it (not _that_ many but still), I will make this chapter longer than usual. Just cuz I like you guys. Also, accept it as a sincere apology for this late update and future late updates, because there _will_ be future late updates. I know you probably don't care so I'll just shut up now and let you enjoy chapter six! I mean _scroll three_! I forgot this was my _Inuyasha_ fic for a sec. And I really hope you get at least a smile near the end! I laughed an evil laugh as I wrote it! Enjoy!

_**Scroll Three**_

**21 Questions**

Hiroshi Kurabawa was sent to his uncle's castle a short time after Kaede had sent the message. But he just couldn't stay still. After sleeping in for a couple of hours in his room, he was awakened by some arguing voices coming from the main room. Hiroshi got up to see what all the commotion was about and decided not to make himself known, for it seemed that this conversation was supposed to be a private one.

"Wait! Tsubaki stop!"

"No master! I can _never_ accept this! Why did you entrust the Sacred Jewel to Kikyou and not to _me_?!"

"Well..."

"Why couldn't you choose _me_ instead?!"

"Tsubaki..."

"I _refuse_ to take second place to Kikyou!"

Hiroshi heard a sliding door slam shut, and assumed the woman had left the building.

'_The Sacred Jewel of Four Souls...Kikyou is its guardian!' _Hiroshi thought, amazed that he had been so close to the jewel just a few hours ago. _'I guess I am too late. Taking it form the old man would've been a lot easier. If he entrusted Kikyou with a power like that, she must be something else.' _

He walked back to his room, using the walls as stabilizers so that he wouldn't fall down. He had only let that rat demon attack him so that his guards would have died protecting him. And it would have worked if the villagers hadn't interfered. His guards had known he was only going to his uncle's to steal the jewel, and he had no doubt they would betray him as soon as they would have arrived at the castle. And for that reason only, Hiroshi killed them, right after Kikyou had left the hut.

'_It's too bad, really,'_ He thought, closing the sliding door behind him and smiling a bit, _'I actually liked her...'_

Tsubaki ran towards her hut, located deep within the woods, anger and envy consuming her mind when she thought of her master's decision and Kikyou.

'_Kikyou! That bitch!'_ she thought, blind hatred filling up her heart.

She walked up the few stairs to her door, wanting to burst into tears as she walked in and closed the door behind her, but the thought of Kikyou and the hatred she felt was stronger than her desire to cry. Tsubaki sat down in front of the tiny alter she used to practice her black magic in, and stared into the tiny circular mirror she had to gaze at herself, at her beauty.

'_Ah...this youth and beauty...someday I shall lose it! Is this the fate of all mortals?'_

She looked at herself sadly, musing over her thoughts. Then she remembered _her_.

'_No. If I can take possession of that sacred jewel that Kikyou guards, then my beauty shall become eternal!'_

Only _she_ had the solution to all her problems.

'_I must find a way to take it from her...'_

THE NEXT DAY

"Hey! I actually made it into the village!" Inuyasha said to himself excitedly. He had expected it to be more difficult to enter a village where such an important jewel dwelled, but it didn't even seem that any of the people who lived there knew just how important it actually was.

'_I know this is where she lives. Her scent is all over the place. I just have to find--'_

But that was all the time he had to think because he found himself, once again, flying backwards and being pinned down to a tree.

"What the hell did ya do _that_ for? You stupid wench!" He yelled down at Kikyou, who was calmly looking up at him.

"I didn't even _do_ anything yet!"

Kikyou continued looking up at him, a frown forming on her face. Some people just didn't know when to quit.

"But you were about to, or am I mistaken?"

Kaede was hiding behind her, holding up arrows with one hand and clutching Kikyou's pants tightly with the other.

Inuyasha noticed how much the little girl hiding behind the priestess was shaking in fear. It was nice to know that at least _someone_ thought of him as a threat around here.

"What're you lookin' at you little brat?" he barked down at her.

At this, Kaede forgot all her fears. Her sister had already pinned him down securely to the tree anyway. She stopped shaking and stood up firmly on her two feet. She grabbed one of the arrows and held it up for Kikyou to take and finish off this stupid jerk.

"Here sister. Finish off this stupid jerk!" she yelled, directing it to Inuyasha.

"Who're you calling a 'stupid jerk', you little brat!?"

"I am not a brat!"

Kikyou looked down at her little sister, the arrow on her tiny hand mere inches from her reach as both she and Inuyasha continued to have their childish outbursts. On instinct, she slowly readied her bow, reached for the arrow and took it form her.

Inuyasha shut up when he saw Kikyou take the arrow from the little girl, looking like she didn't really know what she was doing.

'_Fuck. Will she shoot me?'_

He kept on looking down at her, when he saw her look back up at him with the face of a true priestess. An experienced priestess who was ready and willing to kill.

'_I'm such a fool. **Of course** she's gonna shoot me!' _

Kikyou looked up at him and saw a look of distrust and uncertainty on his face. Looking back down at the bow and arrow on her hands, she looked back up at him and thought, _'What am I **doing**...?'_ with a look of pure horror on her face.

She had thought long and hard about what to do with him when he came back and tried to take the jewel (she knew he would never give up) and she came up with a very simple plan. Whatever she did, killing was not an option. Yet, here she was, bow and arrow on her hands, with Inuyasha pinned to another tree, looking about ready to fight for his life. For his humanity.

Kikyou turned around and began to walk away towards the river, leaving a surprised little girl and a dumfounded hanyou behind. "Let's go Kaede!" she yelled calmly over her shoulder. Without another word, Kaede ran towards her older sister, a billion and one questions invading her little brain.

Inuyasha watched as Kikyou and that little brat called Kaede walked off into the distance, heading toward the river. He was now more confused than ever. What was this girl playing at? What was up with that strange look in her eyes? How does she always seem to figure out his exact location? As he tried to answer these questions himself, more questions popped up from them and it seemed the cycle would never end. But the one question the continued to bug him would not leave his mind. It had been there, burned in his brain since the day he met her.

Why didn't she just kill him?

"Why didn't ye just kill him?"

Inuyasha's ears turned to the voice that had just asked his question. It was the brat! They were pretty far away by now, but his ears did much more than just make him look adorable. He listened harder, trying to drown out the other noises that distracted his concentration. His heart beat faster with every passing minute, waiting anxiously for the answer to the question that had haunted him for the past four days. Then, he heard Kikyou give his long awaited response.

"I do not know."

".............................Whddaya _mean_ 'I do not know'?!" screamed Inuyasha, imitating the miko's response and furious that she would give such a stupid answer to such an important question.

"What does ye mean by _that_ sister?" asked the brat.

'_What the hell is that brat, a mind reader?'_ thought Inuyasha, as she once again asked Kikyou his question.

There was a short pause before Kikyou finally said, "That is enough Kaede." And with that, Kaede didn't say anything for the rest of the trip.

Inuyasha hung there, thinking about the things the miko had said and the things he wanted to ask her.

Inuyasha reached for an arrow closest to him and yanked it off with his mouth. When one of his arms was free, he removed the rest of the arrows from his badly torn hakama. He had to sew his hakama every time she shot him. And, to be honest, he wasn't very good at it. He wanted to ask her so many things. He had so many WHY, WHAT and HOW questions, he wouldn't know where to start.

He sat on a tree branch, looking off into the distance where Kikyou had headed off to. To that river that separated the two villages. So many were the things he wished to ask her someday...someday he'd ask her...someday...

He jumped off the tree branch, landing softly on the ground, a plan molding itself on his brain and a smirk cutting into his face.

"Why wait?"

Kikyou waited until Kaede had finished bathing herself in the river. They had gone all the way down the river where the waterfall was, the place where all the women of the village went to bathe. It was surrounded by forest and such, making it hard for any peeping toms to...._ peep_ without making extremely loud noises and giving away their positions.

All the women loved it when Kikyou went to bathe with them. She scared off all the perverts who tried to spy on them. For she is a priestess after all and could easily sense any _unwanted_ presence that was nearby. Most of the time she could.

"Sister, I am done!"

"Let us go then."

"But, aren't ye going to bathe as well?"

"No, I cannot. There is no one here to watch over you if I do. That is why I did not join you."

"Oh..."

"Lady Kikyou! Are you going to bathe now?"

Kikyou and Kaede turned around and saw a woman from their village walking towards them, two more women following closely behind.

"No. My sister was the one who has just finished. We are now on our way back to the village."

"My sister can't bathe because she can't bathe and watch over me at the same time." Kaede said, butting into the conversation.

"Kaede..." said Kikyou, giving her little sister a please-shut-up! look.

"Oh, well then let me take little Kaede back to the village with us. We just finished bathing as well. One of us can stay and wait for you, if you like."

Kikyou was about to protest, but Kaede had walked over to the other two women to go with them back to the village. And Kikyou knew the women only meant to help.

"Fine. I will stay and wash. But please, do not trouble yourselves by waiting for me. I'll be fine."

"Well, okay then. If that's what you wish." Said the woman, and all four left for the village and disappeared into the distance.

"Great. I do not have clean clothes to wear after." Said Kikyou to herself. She was so used to bathing with her clothes on, but now she had to do naked.

"I guess I have no choice. I cannot go back and tell them I did not bathe because I do not wish to do it in the nude..."

Hesitating a bit, Kikyou undid her clothes from her body, folding them neatly and placing them on a rock nearby so they wouldn't get dirtier. With her right hand, she reached for her hair tie and pulled it off, letting her ebony hair fall gracefully down her back and front. Her bow and arrows were left right next to the river, making them easy for her to reach in case of an attack. And the jewel, she decided, would remain safely around her neck.

Kikyou cautiously dipped her toes into the water, to get a feel of its temperature. "Ah! C-cold." She said as she quickly pulled her toes back out.

It was almost sundown, and the water was colder than it was in the afternoon. Those times were when Kikyou would prefer a bath, when the sun was high in the sky, warming the water enough for her to go in without shaking uncontrollably. But, because of all the recent events, she hadn't bathed in days, and she really was in need on one.

She slowly walked into the river, her body starting to shiver from the icy feeling of the falling waters splashing against her warm flesh. She stepped deeper into the water until it reached her waist. She had a piece of cloth that Kaede had left to clean herself with and held it in both hands, close to her chest, as she stood there trembling in the freezing waters of the river, her teeth chattering wildly in her mouth.

"M-maybe this w-w-wasn't.... Such a g-good idea..." she said to herself, watching as the water cascaded down near her from the waterfall. "W-well. N-now that I am here, I c-can not turn b-b-back."

And with that, she tightened her grip on the piece of cloth and dived deep into the river.

'_She has to be somewhere around here. Her scent is still fresh...'_

Inuyasha was on all fours, nose pasted to the ground, sniffing for any strong smell of the priestess' scent.

He had followed the scent all the way to the river and he was having a hard time choosing where to go next. She could have gone across, but he didn't see any boats on the other side. Her scent went straight down the path he was going, but he couldn't help thinking that she might've gone across or taken a different path into the forest. Her scent was every where and sometimes it was hard to distinguish which scent was the most recent. It all smelled the same. That feral forest-flower-fresh fragrance that only she owned. He couldn't really describe it. Her aroma was so...natural, sweet, wild, and..._addictive_.

Inuyasha stopped sniffing the air, realizing that for the past five minutes he was actually enjoying that bitch's scent.

"Tsh...it's not _that_ great." He said, as if reassuring himself that he was still sane. He sniffed the air again, her scent telling him to keep on going straight.

"In fact, she could really use a fucking bath."

He kept on going straight, and just when he was about to stop to keep smelling and sniffing, he heard a splash down by the waterfall.

His level of interest perked up, he jumped up to a tree and headed for the waterfall, jumping from branch to branch so he wouldn't be noticed by whatever was down there. At least not yet.

Inuyasha stopped right where the waterfall was and noticed that the miko's scent was strongest here. He looked around, and noticed that her bow and arrows were there, right next to the river, while her clothes were sitting on top of a rock. And the miko was nowhere to be found.

Wait.

If _all_ of her clothes were on that rock, then that could only mean...

'_She must've taken off the jewel as well!'_ he thought, thrilled at the amazing luck he was having at the moment, forgetting completely about why he had followed the priestess and not even wondering why her clothes were on that rock.

Inuyasha jumped down from the tree, landing a few feet from the rock where the miko's clothes were. He walked up to the rock where the garments were, and started to feel them, expecting to find a tiny pink sphere.

"Dammit! I can't find it!" he growled to himself after a minute, grabbing the clothes and shaking them, waiting for the jewel to fall out. When nothing happened, he carelessly threw them to the side, leaving them torn and filthier then they already were.

"Shit...what a waste."

Kikyou burst out of the water, head and spine arching backwards as she sprung up from the water, making her long, wet hair fly down to her back.

' _I thought I'd drown!'_ she thought, remembering how this unsuccessful attempt to swim in freezing water made it hard to hold in one's breath and impossible to concentrate. With shaking hands, she rubbed her arms to warm them up, shuddering as she did.

'_If anyone was to see me like this, they might figure out I **am** human...'_ she thought, running a hand through her hair. _'They'd see the "Great Priestess Kikyou" tremble.'_

Unfortunately for her, someone _was_ watching her, very closely examining her exposed back under the now sunless sky and thoughts about the jewel dissolving from his brain. At first, he had been startled at her sudden, almost majestic, appearance, as she shot out of the water and her hair flew back, making it seem like it was playing in slow motion. Then she stood there, rubbing her arms with shaking hands, apparently not used to the extreme temperatures of the river, the rest of her body shaking as well. It was then that he remembered he had teenage hormones, as he watched her shaking body from the back and thought of it shaking for other and more _intimate_ reasons under very different circumstances.

He tried to lower his gaze, he really did. Tried so hard to make his eyes shift from the miko's shaking, wet body, to the roaring waterfalls or to the stony ground, even to his dirty feet, but no matter where his head turned, his eyes would not budge from the miko's back. She made it so hard for him to resist, unconsciously hypnotizing him, as she took that piece of cloth of hers to clean herself, roaming it all over her body. He knew it would have been a good idea to get out of there, to escape and save himself, but he couldn't and unconsciously agreed with himself what good eye candy she was. He bit down on his lip, his fang digging into it, making it bleed, as he unsuccessfully tried to suppress a growl that wanted to come out from excitement, his hands forming into fists and staying safely next to his thighs.

Of course, the miko had no idea what she was causing the hanyou to feel, and continued to douse herself in water, trying hard to enjoy the clean feeling she was experiencing in the icy waters of the river. But it was too much.

'_I am clean enough!'_

Kikyou turned around and started to walk out of the water, looking down at her reflection as it started to get smaller and blurrier with every step she took, when she heard someone say "Whoa..."

Kikyou's head shot up, horror and disturbance in her face as she looked at the guy who was freely staring at her. _All _of her.

"Give me the jewel!" Inuyasha managed to say after realizing it was on her neck, trying hard not to look any further down from it, both blushing like there was no tomorrow.

Kikyou had never felt so embarrassed before in her life. Never before had she been in this kind of situation. No man had ever seen her so..._exposed_. So she did the first thing her feminine instincts told her to do, walked up to Inuyasha and slapped him so hard in the face the impact made him take two huge steps backwards before falling down hard on his ass.

"OWWWW! STUPID BITCH! WHAT THE HELL!?" was all he said as he sat there, a hand on the now swollen cheek Kikyou had socked. She hurriedly walked toward her tattered clothes, put on her torn shirt, which was long enough to cover her down past her butt, and took her bow and an arrow.

"Get...out...of...here..." she said, anger taking over her embarrassment, the arrow stretching out the string as it made little creaking noises.

Inuyasha stood up and dusted the dirt from his clothes. He looked up at her, determined not to go anywhere until he got the jewel. "Give me the fucking jewel and—"

Kikyou let go of the arrow and it flew right past Inuyasha's face, grazing his left cheek and crimson drops of blood oozing from the cut. He looked at her, somewhat surprised she had let go of that arrow. Then again, he knew he couldn't trust her...

"Do NOT mess with me, Inuyasha." She said through gritted teeth. He watched her eyes emitting a dark glow and could have sworn he saw flames of anger dance wildly in them. She really was mad.

He hesitated to leave, but decided it was for the best, unless he wanted his unharmed cheek to get a cut as well.

"I'll be back..." he warned, and ran off into that deep dark forest.

Kikyou watched him run off, her body as tense as ever, an angry face replaced by a sad one. She put on her remaining clothes and walked up to the arrow she had scarred Inuyasha with. Kikyou pulled it out and saw a trace of his blood was still there. She sighed sadly as she looked at it.

"I should not have let my anger take control over me."

And with that, she left for her village.

Elsewhere, Tsubaki watched from a safe distance as Kikyou removed the arrow from the tree and walked away towards her village.

'_Hmm...interesting. Very interesting."_

She sneered when she saw the whole scene. Tsubaki was so sure Kikyou would kill that demon, or _half_-demon as she figured out by his appearance, when Kikyou caught him spying on her, and even more after he demanded the jewel. But she didn't. She let him off with a warning; something Tsubaki knew Kikyou would never do to anyone who had attempted to take the jewel from her more than once before. They seemed to know each other. She guessed that much when Kikyou said the hanyou's name, Inuyasha.

'_It doesn't make sense that she would hesitate to kill him. Half or not, he's still a demon **and** he tried to take the jewel."_

Tsubaki continued to think the situation over and came up with a very interesting conclusion.

'_Ha! Don't tell me Kikyou is falling in** love**! This is too rich!'_

Tsubaki laughed as she stood behind the tree she used to hide herself while spying on the stupid miko and her worthless hanyou.

'_Wait. I can use this as an advantage! If my assumption is true, Kikyou will weaken the deeper she falls in love. Her powers will evanesce completely! All I have to do is wait until that happens...'_

Tsubaki continued to laugh evilly, rejoicing in the thought of soon having the jewel for herself, to keep her youth and beauty forever, not to mention the powers she would gain once she obtained it. It was all too perfect. All she had to do was wait. Wait for the right moment to steal the jewel from Kikyou, which should have been hers to begin with. Her master had been an imbecile and given it to Kikyou instead of her, and now she had to go through all of this unnecessary effort to take it back.

"But, no matter..."

Tsubaki walked off toward her hut, that perfect plan fresh in her mind, anxious for the day she would take the jewel from that wench.

"In the end, that jewel _will_ be mine! Just you wait Kikyou."

END OF SCROLL 3

'Tis the end of this chapter. If you're wondering why this chapter is called 21 Questions well, I'm not going to tell you. You can guess all you want, and I'll tell you if it's right or wrong, but I will not give out clues. Well, I'll give you ONE: _the A/Ns don't count_. I don't know if much of a clue or if it'll even help at all, but I don't really care. Guess to your heart's content! And I guess Kikyou got outta character here and I apoligize. Don't be like my mother and say that "sorry" doesn't fix anything. And review por favor!

Adios!

I just read my reviews! You are all very kind people. I just wanted to add this cuz DFGH asked why this story is called **From Love to Hate.** Well, I'm TRYING to make this story to go with the show. Since no one really knows anything that happened during the time Kikyou and Inuyasha where together, I just thought it'd be fun for me to make up their lives before Kikyou's reincarnation came along. I mean, Kagome. She's cool. I like her. But I like Kikyou a bit more. Anyway, that's not the point. Point is that since this is going with the show, it has to end how it started. And how did the anime/manga start? Inuyasha was killed by Kikyou, cuz they thought they were back-stabbed and all that stuff. Yes, they'll fall madly in love with one another in this story. No, I apoligize, it will not end happily ever after. So much for the happy ending, huh? Don't hate me! I didn't make them kill eachother! If you must put the blame on someone, blame that dumbass Onigumo. Then blame that bastard Naraku. Then blame that genius Ms. Takahashi. Just don't kill her cuz I wanna know how the story ends! Well, that's pretty much it, DFGH. Oh, and Kusaki Hayashi, I'd love to read your story, as soon as I finish this sentence and upload this. Thanks for reviewing guys! Adios!


	4. Can't Touch This

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha, and maybe, in some other life, I will. Maybe.

I hope you guys continue reading this story, even though I said it won't end happily ever after. Please enjoy the few precious moments theses two shared before they damned each other to hell. Well, _Kikyou_ damned herself to hell and couldn't rest in peace, so her tormented soul was reincarnated while Inuyasha slept for 50 years straight. Yeah...Enjoy! (Computers suck at sarcasm)

(Oh! And Kazuko Aeko! Happy early fifteen! I know your B-Day is on the 28 (I read ur bio) but I just wanted to make sure you read this on time. And because it's a very special age, this will be a very special chapter dedicated to you! That's right! This is 4 U! Feliz Quince y que cumplas muchos mas!)

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Scroll Four

Can't Touch This

Kikyou got up early in the morning, as she usually did, and dressed in her new priestess attire. The village women had confiscated the torn up clothes she had arrived in last night; shocked the miko would come back wearing filthy and torn clothes after washing up. They had volunteered to sew them up for her and she didn't object, feeling too tired and confused to say no. There really was no need, actually. Kikyou had endless piles of priestess clothing. But since some village people felt at debt to her for all the help that she had given, they felt that in doing so, they were repaying a small amount of that debt back. Of course, not all people thought so.

Many of her villagers blamed her for all the mayhem and destruction that befell the village. Especially those who were almost victims themselves to the savage raids of demons, but everyone knew that it wasn't Lady Kikyou's fault. Their master had wanted her to keep the jewel safe, and no one disobeyed the master, no matter how harsh the command was. Besides, he really didn't tell her to take it, he asked her to do it as a huge favor. And, of course, Kikyou accepted. She was always out helping everyone. That was the other reason it couldn't be Lady Kikyou's fault.

Even _before_ the jewel had come into her grasps, the demons had always been there, looking for any opportunity to consume human flesh. And she had always tried her best to help out, to fit in with the rest, but she was too different. In fact, many people didn't see her as a human at all. They saw her as a godly figure, an angel almost and some had even gone as far as to worship her. And no matter how hard she tried to tell them she was just a normal being, she knew they continued to praise her secretly. That was when she knew she would never fit in.

After a quick breakfast, she went to pick up the bow and arrows that were always placed next to her futon and saw the one she had cut Inuyasha with. That blood of his refused to come off her arrow, no matter how much she tried to wipe it off. She took that arrow and placed it in the wall right above her futon, so that every time she saw it, she would be reminded of the things that could transpire if she ever let her emotions get the best of her.

'I would not blame Inuyasha if he cannot trust me anymore, even though I do not think he ever truly did...'

With that thought fresh in her mind, Kikyou went out to scout the area around the village and forest searching for any demons that might have trespassed at night.

After three long and rather boring hours, she had found nine demons, all of which she easily got rid of.

The last one was a tough little sucker. Literally. It was a huge bat demon, and she had found it feeding off another demon, which was still half-alive. As soon as the demon heard her approach he lunged at her, blood dripping from its fangs and mouth and black wings extended wide, blocking the morning rays of the sun as its claws prepared to sink deep into the miko's flesh. Kikyou waited for the right moment to let go of her arrow, putting in enough power into it to destroy the demon. As the bat's mouth opened wide and showed it's huge bloody fangs, she let go of the arrow, a strong amount of pink-tinted energy swirling about it as it cut right through the bat's heart. It fell to the ground, leering up at her and letting out a horrible screech of pain and anger as it slowly died and turned to dust as the wind carried it away.

"Good job!" she heard from behind, as the person clapped his hands slowly, approaching her with a slow pace.

"...I do not mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?" asked Kikyou, her back still turned towards the character.

"I merely came to give you my gratitude for helping me out back at the village."

"I believe I told you to maintain in bed while the wounds healed."

"Ah...so you _do_ remember me."

Kikyou turned around to face her surprise guest as she said, "Of course. We only met two days ago, Lord Kurabawa."

"Really? It seemed to me as if it were years ago..."

He looked at her and grinned. His short, shoulder length black hair swayed gently in the breeze as his dark blue eyes focused intently onto her brown ones.

He continued to smile at her, although she didn't return it, and said, "Now I know why my uncle has confided you with the jewel..."

Kikyou said nothing, but was tempted to arch her eyebrow in curiosity. How did _he_ know about the jewel?

"You are strong, defiant, sharp, vehement in battle and in absolute control of your emotions...a true warrior. And if you don't mind me saying..."

He stepped closer towards her, stopping when he thought he saw distrust in her eyes as she kept a composed expression.

"...A splendid beauty."

Kikyou didn't trust him. She didn't trust him at all. There was something wrong about him she sensed, as if he were scheming something evil.

"Spare me the flattery. What are your _true_ intentions?" she said, her eyes openly showing the suspicion he thought he had seen.

His eyes widened in a sarcastic insult as he let out a fake exhale of disbelief.

"Why, my dear Lady Kikyou, I have no _bad motives_ if that's what you mean." He said as he raised a hand to trace it lightly on her cheek.

"I have merely come to..._fulfil _your..._needs_..." he said, as a smirk carved itself on his lips, suppressing a want to laugh at his own words. _'And mine as well...'_

Kikyou stopped his hand by the wrist, and applied enough pressure to it so as to not let it go any further. She pushed it back slowly, looking up into his dark azure gaze as he continued to give her that hated smile.

"Do not touch me."

Kurabawa laughed. He really did like this woman. He just _had_ to have her.

"Try and stop me."

With his other hand, he grabbed her shirt and ripped it open, pulling it down as far as it could. At the distraction, Kikyou let go of his other hand, trying to get an arrow from the many on her back while trying to fight him off with the left hand that held the bow as well. She had a bandaged shirt wrapped tightly around her chest A/N they had to have _some_ kind of bra in the old days right? and he was about to start removing that as well when Kikyou decided it best to just push him away with her bow. She concentrated an immense quantity of power to her bow, the pink light quickly twisting itself into it, while Kurabawa felt the huge power start to push him back. Kikyou twirled her bow with her hand and pushed it forward towards him, the bright pink light paining his dark aura as he flew back some good ten meters before he hit the ground.

She pulled her top back on, eyes pasted on his motionless figure.

Had she killed him?

'It is his own fault.... I told him not to touch me.'

Kikyou sighed in relief when she heard a painful groan come from the man.

Evil or not, he was still human, and Kikyou could never hurt another human being. Although for the sake of he jewel, she had made some exceptions...

Hiroshi stirred in the dirt he found himself in, noble clothes all covered in filth, and mouth and nose bleeding from the impact of the hit Kikyou had given him.

"Damn you stupid wench..." he hissed.

"Get out of here. I do not wish to shed your blood, no matter how filthy it is."

She watched as he struggled to stand up, a curse was gasped out with every breath that he exhaled as he tried to wipe away his own blood. She turned around and left.

Hiroshi watched as she gracefully walked back to her village, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Fucking bitch..." he said.

Kikyou walked slowly towards her shed, paying no attention to the constant chattering of the women or the loud laughter of the children as her thoughts took her into her own little world.

So many demons she had to fight off, so much pain, so much betrayal... all for the tiny pink sphere that only she possessed. Was it all really worth it? Was so much torture and torment really worth a jewel? She didn't think so. And quite honestly, she was sick of it. She was sick of it all. But she had to keep on going; for the safety of the people. She could never falter and let the jewel fall into the wrong hands. Because only the wrong hands wanted it. And those evil souls that wanted it would stop at nothing from obtaining their source of motivation. They would stop at nothing to fulfill that damned hunger for power.

Her thoughts were interrupted by some noises she heard form her right and, after a moment, sighed inwardly. She took out an arrow and aimed it at the source. When she let go, she got several more, and shot them at her target as well.

"Godammit!" she heard.

"What are you doing so deep inside the village?" she asked.

"Why else would I be?!" he shouted, focusing his amber eyes on the jewel around the miko's neck.

Then his stomach growled loudly, angry that its stupid owner had ignored it for the past few days.

Kikyou raised an amused eyebrow.

"...What?!" he asked, looking off into the distance and pretending he had heard nothing.

"I'm having lunch right now. You can come if you want." she said.

"I am NOT hungry!" he yelled. But his stomach begged to differ as another loud growl left his stomach, as it begged its owner for a bite to eat.

Kikyou smiled to herself, watching as Inuyasha's face turned red as he angrily stared at his stomach and took off the arrows that had pinned him down once again to a random tree.

'Stupid stomach.' He thought.

Why do our bodies betray us at the most unfortunate of times?

Inuyasha's stomach followed Kikyou all the way to her hut, as Inuyasha cursed himself for not feeding it back at the forest when he had a chance. The jewel was just too time-consuming.

Inuyasha was lucky there were not that many people outside near the home of the villagers. It was, after all, lunchtime and almost everyone had gone inside to eat earlier. The only ones who were left outside were the children who had had a fast meal, and they were too busy playing to notice a six-foot demon with a long white mane and piercing gold eyes walking casually in the village, following the Lady Kikyou.

Inuyasha was intent, looking around the village at the many homes that had accumulated. He had completely forgotten where he was going or whom he was following when he smelled a delicious aroma fill the air as he entered the miko's home.

"Sister Kikyou! Ye are home ear—AH! DEMON!" screamed Kaede, surprised to see a demon just walk into her home.

"Shut up kid!" Inuyasha yelled back at her, making a childish face to accompany his yell.

"Sister!" Kaede whined, feeling inferior to the huge demon.

"Kaede, Inuyasha has decided to eat with us today." Said Kikyou, giving her sister a look that said 'behave, will you?'

"As if! I only came for the jewel!" Inuyasha retorted back.

'Stubborn as a brick.' Thought Kikyou, wondering how in the world he had managed to survive all these years.

She served him some rice from the pot and handed it to him, along with the extra chopsticks she had.

He took a moment to smell the food, cautiously picking at it and its contents with the chopsticks he was given as if he had never seen this thing called 'rice' before, and sniffed the vapor that rose gently out of the bowl.

"What are you doing?" asked Kaede. "Are ye going to eat it or not?"

"Why are you so eager for me to eat it, huh?" he asked suspiciously. "You poisoned it didn't you!?" he yelled, pointing at the two very confused sisters.

"Excuse me?" asked Kikyou calmly, raising an eyebrow in question to his outburst.

"This is just payback for what happened back at that waterfall isn't it!?" he screamed.

Kikyou's eyes widened in disbelief and embarrassment as she remembered the events of last night. She had completely forgotten about it.

"Waterfall? Sister, what is he talking about?" asked Kaede.

"N-nothing. Go outside and play Kaede."

"But I still haven't eaten--"

"Please Kaede. Go."

Seeing as how she couldn't win, Kaede slowly made her way out of the hut, leaving an embarrassed miko and an angry hanyou all alone.

"You're just trying to lead me into a false sense of security aren't you!?"

"Look Inuyasha," Kikyou started, but at that exact time, someone from the outside screamed "DEMON!" and they started hearing screams and cries for help. Kikyou wasted no time in getting her bow and arrows and ran out her door, leaving a stunned hanyou all alone. He looked at the bowl of rice and his stomach growled for the third time that day. Then he looked at the pot full of rice. So maybe he wasn't so alone.

"Where is it?" she asked, looking around the area and scanning it for the culprit. At that moment, a huge black bird swooped from the treetops into the sky, seemingly carrying a small bundle within its claws.

"Please Lady Kikyou! Save my baby! Save my baby!" cried out a woman, sobbing out the words as she grabbed onto the miko's clothes.

A village man pried the woman off of Kikyou as she ran off and got onto a horse. She galloped into the bird's direction, hoping that by some miracle, the horse would outrun it or that the demon would turn back.

The enormous feathered wings of the black bird flapped up and down as it flew off into the distance, cawing loudly and pressing its claws into the brown bundle it carried. Had the bird not turned around, it would have enjoyed human flesh that evening. But the power of the jewel made it fly back, its normal hunger replaced by a new hunger for power.

The demon flew straight at Kikyou, the sharp ends of its beak opened wide as it let out a long screech and let the baby fall as it loosened its grip on it.

'Damn. I have to save the child first!' she thought.

Kikyou aimed at the baby with an arrow, concentrating every bit of her self onto that bundle that fell rapidly from the sky. She tried hard not to think of what would happen if she aimed incorrectly and tried to drown out the cries of the woman and the screech of the demon who would devour her if she didn't hurry it up.

' On three.' She thought.

'Three!'

The arrow flew swiftly towards the baby, and she could almost guarantee that it would hit the mark, but she didn't have time to think about that. She hurriedly got another arrow and aimed it at the demon that was at most ten feet from her reach.

A horrible cry filled the air as three arrows pierced through the demon's chest, blood squirting out from the wounds as it fell to the ground beside her.

She looked down at her clothes. Great. Blood stains. She wiped a hand on her forehead. Great. More blood.

She didn't think much of it though when she heard the horrified cries of the woman again.

Kikyou got off the horse and ran towards the spot where the baby should have landed. Sure enough, when she got there, there it was, pinned securely to the tree by its blanket.

She took off her arrow and carried the baby in her arms.

'I can't believe he's still sleeping.' She thought, smiling down at the infant in her arms.

The baby's mother came running from behind Kikyou, tears flowing fluently from her eyes as she outstretched her arms and took her child from the miko's careful grasp.

"Thank you! Thank you so much Lady Kikyou!" she cried.

Kikyou couldn't help but smile at them, and watched as the woman lovingly rocked her baby back and forth in her arms.

She went back to her hut, happy cheers could be heard as she entered her home. When she entered the room, she saw that it was empty, much like the pot of rice and teapot.

"Inuyasha..." she murmured, "I'm still hungry!"

Inuyasha lay lazily on a tree branch, one hand behind his head as the other rubbed the extremely satisfied stomach of his as he looked down at the peaceful river. So maybe it _wasn't_ poisoned after all.

'Today, your food. Tomorrow, your jewel.'

His ears perked up as he heard someone coming down from the village. He looked down and saw the priestess walking towards the river. As she washed some strange red stains from her face that smelled a lot like blood, he heard her stomach growl and complain in hunger.

"You snooze you lose." He said to himself, a smirk twisting itself on his face as he continued to watch her.

But it seemed that he hadn't said it low enough, because she turned around and saw him looking down at her.

"You stink like a bird," he said to her. It was true. She reeked of bird demon blood. "...And like a man!" he added. That was also true. He had smelled it when he was following her to her hut. How she got that smell was beyond him.

She just stared at him, looking too tired to even try to start an argument. "Maybe because I was with a bird," she said, turning around and making her way back to the village, "and with a man."

After that, she said no more and walked back haughtily towards her village.

Inuyasha looked at her until she went out of view.

What the hell did that mean?

"...Bitch." he said, watching as the sun started to set and thinking of how another day passed by without the jewel.

****

End of Scroll Four

Ah! I have mice in my office! Well, I did. Then my dad got rid of them, but I can't help and think there's still another one lurking around in the dark corners of this room. These stupid rodents are the reason why I haven't updated! I've been too scared to go into the office, so I check my email at school! Of course, I can't update from school, so by the time you're reading this, I have made my dad triple check the place. Well, whatever. I gotta do my Pre-Cal homework! Agh.... It sucks being smart...just kidding. It _doesn't_ suck being smart. MATH IS POWER!!

Adios!

Oh! And for those who don't know, it is true. I'm a chick. Really I am. My mom and doctor say so and so I must be. MATH IS POWER!!


	5. Say My Name

Disclaimer: When I dream a dream, he's all MINE!! MUAHAHAHA! But unfortunately, I'm awake and so Inuyasha belongs to Ms. Takahashi.

MICE! GODDAMIT! I HATE MICE! But since you guys reviewed, I'll continue typing in my deranged office. I know chapter three's Kikyou was OOC, but I wanted a little humor to balance out all the sadness this story will contain in future chapters. After all, I'm a humor...ish type of person. Not in real life though, cuz when I try to tell a joke I confuse myself and other people and it's not funny (kinda like Merlin in Finding Nemo) but when I write I can create a whole laughing stock. I can say things a lot better in writing than in person, but what-ever! Yus guys came to read a story and by God I'll give you a story to read. So enjoy Scroll 5!

**_Scroll 5 _**

**Say My Name**

Kurabawa felt like he had gone through hell and back as he returned to his uncle's castle. It seemed he was weaker than he had first anticipated.

"That idiot took all the strength from me..."

He had known Kikyou was a great priestess, considering his uncle had trusted her to protect the jewel, but he had no idea she possessed such immense power. That kind of power could only be attained through self-sacrifice and an intense dedication to the source. Had she never accepted the jewel, her power wouldn't have been half as great as it was now.

He stumbled into the great halls of the castle and limped slowly inside, wanting to cry out for help but finding his voice was dried and cracked. His arm felt dislocated and the blood would not stop flowing from his mouth. What the hell had that wench done to him?

"Oh! Lord Kurabawa!"

A maid grabbed onto Kurabawa and let him use her as support. As a general rule, servants never asked or questioned their masters about anything, so she helped Kurabawa up to his room, where he fell onto his futon exhausted and murmured something about revenge and blood before drifting off to sleep.

SOMETIME LATER(if you must know, it's five days later)

Inuyasha had been the talk of the village for these past days, and, frankly, he couldn't stand it. Gossip this, murmur that, all these different commentaries about him were driving him insane! Especially since they thought they did it behind his back. Unknown to them, Inuyasha could hear every single comment made about him, no matter how quiet they were.

"Did you hear about the hanyou that has been trying to steal the jewel from Lady Kikyou?"

"Yes! I have heard something about it."

"Word is he's trying to seduce our lady!"

"No. Way. Are you sure?"

"Well, it's only a rumor...but I wouldn't doubt it for a second. I think he'd do anything for the jewel. You can't trust half-breeds like him."

Just then, Inuyasha popped out of nowhere and scared the two nosy idiots as they scattered off into different directions, screaming about demons and curses. Inuyasha huffed and stood there with his arms crossed and watched as the two losers ran off. What most disturbed him was that those two idiots were just village children, the eldest one looked like she was thirteen. Thirteen! What the hell was this world coming to?

_You can't trust half-breeds like him._

"Stupid punks." He said.

In these past days, Inuyasha had attempted (rather miserably) to steal the jewel from the grasps of the powerful miko but never once had he succeeded. He quit trying to sneak up behind her because it seemed she had a powerful sixth sense that allowed her to recognize the presence of anyone within a one mile radius, demon or not. However, that didn't stop him from keeping a close watch on her. He studied every move she made and observed for any sign of weakness she might show.

"Sister, why does ye never use this?"

Inuyasha jumped hastily onto a nearby tree as soon as he recognized the brat's voice. Of course, the brat was none other than Kaede.

"I do not think that is necessary anymore." Replied Kikyou.

"So why did ye make it then?"

"I intended to use it, but like I said, I won't need it."

Kaede took the brown prayer beads her sister had made and started to twirl it gently in her finger, enjoying the jingle it made the faster she twirled it. Kikyou had explained to her how these special prayer beads worked and Kaede thought that it was the most interesting thing her sister had ever made. She looked at the bead necklace and touched the four white fangs her sister had taken the time to drill to put the necklace together. Apparently, those fangs were the keys to force the soul of almost any demon to follow your command. Of course, only those with special spiritual skills could use it.

"Can I have it then?" she asked eagerly.

"As long as you promise not to use them." Teased Kikyou.

"...Yes sister!" Kaede said, laughing, and ran off to show off the present to her friends. Kikyou smiled slightly at the sight of her younger sister running off freely into the distance.

'_How beautiful it must be to be free.'_ She thought sadly.

Her sad smile however, turned into a face of annoyance as she felt the now so familiar presence of a man. Kikyou knew he was there. His aura was too distinct from the other demons'; it was hard _not_ to know it was he. She waited for his challenge to roar out of a tree and, sure enough, it did.

"Hey miko!" he yelled down at her. "I'm ready to take you on again!"

She turned around to face him and saw his amber eyes glare down at her. Then she turned back around and started to walk away.

'_Would it kill him to use my name?'_ she thought, irked.

"What the--hey bitch! What the hell are you doing? I'm **over here!**" he yelled, and fell off the tree as she continued to ignore him.

'_Why that little...'_ he thought, annoyed beyond belief at this point, but he wasn't about to let the miko go that easily.

"Priestess! Prepare yourself!" he yelled, jumping in front of her and blocking her way from wherever the hell she was going.

"Inuyasha, I do not have time for this right now..." she said placidly.

"That's not my problem. I'm ready to fight for the jewel **now!**"

He lunged at her and she effortlessly shot him with her arrows. He truly was a waste of them.

As with many times before, he waited for her to finish him off for good, for that fatal arrow that would bring his life to and end, but it never came. Then he finally blurted it out.

"Why do you never strike the final blow!" he growled.

"Get out of here. You're a waste of arrows." Was all she said.

"Feh!"

Unknown to them, they were being closely watched by someone who meant them harm.

'_So this is the maiden who possesses the Shikon Jewel, eh?'_

The man watched as the priestess placidly walked away from the angry hanyou that had been pinned to the tree.

'_This half-breed seems to also want the jewel.'_

As if sensing someone was thinking about him, the hanyou looked in his direction.

"Whoever the hell you are, show yourself!"

He waited for a response the man had no intention to return. The hanyou was getting impatient.

"I know you're there! I can smell your horrid breath!"

The man smirked. He would enjoy killing this one.

Inuyasha waited for whatever the hell it was that was hiding itself from him to show himself. But when that person didn't show, he ripped trough the arrows and landed on the spot where the guy had been. It was empty.

'_I know someone was here. The stench is still fresh.'_

"Inuyasha!"

He turned around at the sound of his name, flexed his claws, showed some fang and prepared for a fight. These were all just reflexes he had developed from previous experiences.

"AH! HE'LL KILL US ALL!"

Inuyasha watched as the screaming village children scattered randomly in different directions.

"...Stupid brats!" he said. He didn't like children very much, not even in his own childhood. Most children would always pick on him or avoid him as if he were some kind of horrible plague.

Out of all the children that had come to him, only one was left.

"Ye are so mean!" she said.

"Shut up brat! What the hell did your mob of friends want anyway?" he asked her loudly.

"They just wanted to meet ye!" said Kaede as if stating the obvious.

"Why?" came the suspicious retort of the hanyou. Even if they were just children, one could never be _too_ careful...

"Because...they've never..._met_ someone like...like ye before." She said innocently, even though it was plainly obvious she was sugarcoating her words carefully.

"Feh! You can tell your little friends to just _bugger off_!" he snapped. He then jumped onto a tree and leaped away.

'_Stupid brat! What the hell dose she think I am? Some kind of side show oddity?'_

The more Inuyasha thought about it, the angrier he became. No one had ever treated him equally. No one had had the brains enough to look past his exterior to see the kind person he truly was inside. Everyone he met always looked at him funny, like he was some sort of freak or alien that could never truly be accepted into society. Everywhere he went it was always the same thing.

He stopped abruptly to look at Kikyou who was being surrounded by those bratty village children as they held up flowers for her to take. She smiled warmly and took the flowers gratefully.

Now, this was something new to Inuyasha. The Kikyou, I mean, _miko_ he knew never smiled like that. Whenever he met her, she always had on a pokerfaced facade molded onto her maiden face. Her shoulders were always tense, her head was held firmly high, her eyes would show no emotion as her eyebrows came together to form a serious expression and her lips would always maintain that delicate straight line as the edges curved downward ever so slightly. But the priestess he was watching intently at the moment looked nothing like the fierce warrior he had encountered so many times before during their battles (if you can call them that.). This miko looked relaxed and her eyes sparkled in amusement and sweetness, and her lips formed a gentle smile as she gave it to the children. In short, she was a completely different person.

As Kikyou talked to the children, he couldn't help but eavesdrop. His ears were, after all, a magnificent gift that Inuyasha felt should never go to waste.

"Lady Kikyou, why is that half breed following you everywhere?" asked a child.

_What! I do not! ,_ Thought Inuyasha undignified.

"Please Mira, do not call him that. He has a name, you know."

_That's right!_

"Yeah? Is it really 'Inuyasha'?" asked another child. "It sounds funny!"

At this, all the children laughed.

'_Grr...those blasted children!'_ Inuyasha thought angrily, shaking his fist in order to keep them from reaching the children.

"Really? I thought it was rather neat." Said Kikyou as-a-matter-of-factly.

Like every other child, Inuyasha stared at her. _'...What?'_

"Think about it. His name fits him perfectly. 'Inu' means dog, right?"

"Yeah! And he looks like a cute little doggy with those ears!" cried a little girl as all the other girls giggled in agreement. The boys just looked at them as if they were foreign and Inuyasha was relieved he was hiding in a think mount of leaves and tree branches, lest someone spot his blushing face.

"And 'yasha' means demon." She said, making sure she had the attention of every child in her surrounding. "So it only seems natural that he be called a 'dog demon' wouldn't it?"

"But he's only half!" stated another child.

"That shouldn't matter." Said Kikyou calmly and tried her best to explain it simply to these innocent souls. "What matters most is what the person has inside them. Think about it in this way. If you get some peanuts, they all are different, right? Some are big while others are small, some are lighter than others are, and some are smooth and others have cracks in them. Maybe that peanut with the cracks had a rough journey to get to where it was now. But no matter how you look at it, it's still a peanut because like every other peanut, it still has the same things inside as any normal peanut. If I cracked a whole bunch of peanuts open, you wouldn't be able to tell which peanuts came from which shell because they would all be the same. We are all the same inside." Kikyou looked up into the tree Inuyasha was in. "We just look different on the outside."

Inuyasha looked at Kikyou, his bangs blew gently in the wind as he pondered her 'peanut' speech. Maybe she understood too...

"Speaking of peanuts, I'm now hungry!" cried a chubby child. All the children laughed in unison and agreed with him. "Mira, can you take these flowers with you and leave them in my home please?" asked Kikyou to the little Mira. "Yes Lady Kikyou!" she said happily and she left towards the village with the other children, leaving behind the hanyou and priestess alone once again. Kikyou looked up at Inuyasha and saw his sad face. Those once fierce amber eyes of his were replaced with sad darkened ones as he looked at Kikyou. But, somehow, he wasn't really looking at her, but was more like looking straight past her as he reflected on the words she had spoken. She had never seen such pain before in his eyes, so much sorrow. What a rough life that peanut must have led...

"Inuyasha! On guard!"

The breeze Kikyou's arrow made snapped Inuyasha back into this world. The arrow she had shot at him was pinned to the tree two feet to his right and it was obvious she had intended to miss him.

"What the hell is your problem, huh?" he angrily screamed down at her.

"Sorry. I had wondered where you had run off to for a moment, but if you're back from wherever it was you were," Kikyou drew another arrow, "we can continue the battle from this morning." Unknown to him, this was Kikyou's way of saying, "You're more yourself when you're angry."

"Alright! Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!" he smirked and leaped down to fight the priestess once again. But before he could even land on the ground, he found himself being pulled back by a force known as Kikyou's arrows. Once again, Inuyasha was pinned to a tree as Kikyou calmly walked away.

"What the hell! You promised a true battle! Hey!" he yelled angrily at the miko, who became tinier and tinier in the distance.

"COME BACK HERE, KIKYOU!"

He thought he saw her stop, if only for a moment, but as fast as she had stopped she walked her way forward again.

"DAMN YOU, KIKYOU!" she heard Inuyasha's faded voice scream.

'_**Damn you, Kikyou**, huh'_ she thought. Then she smiled.

'_Well...it's a start.'_

**End of Scroll 5**

Jesus...I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired, it's not even funny. School's been a total drag and I haven't been able to update _any _of my stories. Except for one, but that one I started eons ago. But whatever. If you want to know ahead of time when the updates will be, go ahead and check out my bio. I must warn you though that not all the dates posted up there are final. In other words, just cuz I say I'll update on Saturday doesn't mean I'll actually do it. Sometimes I will and sometimes I won't. The dates are just personal estimates of mine. But sometimes it feels like homework and then I don't feel like doing it. I'm weird like that. Anyway, I hope you guys got the whole 'peanut' issue. My teacher invented it so I don't own it okay? I hope this chapter was worth your wait. And if it wasn't, well then it sucks to be you. Oh god. My eyelids feel so freaking heavy. And of course, that's not good. When I'm tired like this and I fall asleep, not even the sound of screaming high school students on a football game can wake me up. And I practically live right next to my high school. And right now they're having a game(I think) and there's floats and stuff like that. But I'm too much of a party pooper and loser to go. Yup. That's me. Well, 'Till next time then.

Adios.


	6. Confessions: Part One

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the copyrighted trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and some other huge rich companies that I don't care about, but am grateful to them for spreading this great story to the bookstores of America.

I'm so mad that Bush won that I don't feel like saying anything. So here's scroll six.

**_Scroll Six_   
Confessions: Part One**

"Have you seen her?"

"Yes."

"So? Do you think you can steal it?"

"I should have no problem, if that's what you mean."

He straightened up in his sitting position, making sure his azure eyes met the other man's. He smirked. "Now..." he said, "about the expenses..."

Kurabawa frowned. "I told you I'd reward you well," he said.

"I don't usually do jobs like this, you know? I need..._motivation_," the other man continued.

Kurabawa, as if expecting this, took out a bag full of some sort of small, yet heavy, objects and handed it to the man sitting across from him. The man took it gladly into his hands.

"Just think of it as an _early_ payment, if you will," said the man.

"I expect a job well done," replied Kurabawa expressionlessly.

The man, who was now several gold coins richer, got up to exit the room. "Don't worry," he said, "you'll get your money's worth." And with that, he was gone.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It was fall and the autumn leaves were starting to drift down lazily onto the earth. This made Inuyasha very angry. How was he supposed to hide peacefully in the trees now? Nonetheless, he too lay lazily on the soon to be bald tree, enjoying the calm climate. This last week and a half had been pure relaxation for Inuyasha.

That last encounter with the priestess had almost made forget that that same night it would be a new moon. And he knew what that meant. So he went into hiding. And he hated it. He hated that feeling of fear and hopelessness he felt every time he turned into his weak, human self. Fear of being discovered by one of his enemies, hopeless at the thought of not being able to defend himself. He tried to hide these feelings that irked him so with anger. In his mind, that was the easiest real emotion he could display while being himself.

He was drifting off to sleep when he felt a sting on his cheek, as if someone was poking at him with some sort of small, sharp object. He slapped his face lightly, thinking it was a bug of some sort. When he removed this hand from his cheek, he saw a flat little bug floating down like one of those autumn leaves. Inuyasha caught the little bug and held it up in his palm as he moved his face closer to examine it.

"Well if it ain't Myouga the flea," he said.

"L-lord Inuyasha! That slap was truly worth the drop of your blood," squeaked Myouga happily as he struggled to revert back to his natural form. "Just as tasty as your father!"

"Feh. What do you want?" said Inuyasha, shaking Myouga off of his palm and putting his hands under his head again. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?"

Myouga landed on his lord's shoulder. "Is it so wrong to want to visit my master's son?" he said, looking hurt. _'And miss a chance of tasting your blood.'_ he thought.

"If that's all you wanted, why didn't you run off to Sesshomaru?" asked Inuyasha, annoyed.

"Are you crazy? He'd kill me without hesitation!" he screamed at Inuyasha, furiously jumping up and down on his shoulder. Inuyasha gave him a nasty glare, as if Myouga just questioned Inuyasha's ability to kill. Quickly, Myouga cleared his throat. "At any rate, you were closer so it only took minimal effort to get here." he said.

"Oh yeah? Then what's this?" asked the hanyou apathetically, holding up the huge, small bag Myouga had been carrying on his back. "Hey! Give that back!" screamed the flea, jumping in vain as Inuyasha lifted the bag up and down every time Myouga made an attempt to catch it. After a while, Myouga stopped, looking exhausted.

"What's wrong? You tired, old man?" teased Inuyasha. Myouga looked up at Inuyasha, horror splattered on his face. "Don't think I haven't noticed those gray hairs and wrinkles!" laughed Inuyasha.

"I only have a few!" screamed out Myouga, digging his fingers into his dark hair.

"You're right," said Inuyasha. "You only have a few hairs left!"

Inuyasha continued to laugh out loudly and Myouga continued to scream loudly. It had been so long since Inuyasha had had so much fun picking on someone. No. That wasn't true. That miko was fun to pick on too, to some extent. If only she wasn't that god damned serious.

At first, Kikyou thought that his loneliness had caused him to crack. Why else would he be talking to himself? Then he started to laugh maniacally. Slowly, she backed away from the hanyou.

'_Well, at least he's back,'_ she thought, relieved.

The last time she met him had been a strange encounter. Sure it was weird to have an official proposal of challenge everyday by a comically angry hanyou, but that last time hadn't _felt_ like he was being his usual "demon-self" at all. In fact, she could almost say that his demonic powers were diminishing, if only for that day.

She also couldn't help noticing that that particular night had been a new moon. Did that have to do anything with his sudden disappearance? Whether or not each event was related to the other, she decided not to think further on the subject. All that mattered was that he was here once again.

'It's loneliness that drives people mad,' she thought, hearing small echoes of Inuyasha's laughter. How she had become so attached to that demon was beyond her. It wasn't like her. It wasn't like her at all. Had she become so lonely as to seek company from one of her enemies? No. He was different. He wasn't like all the others. He didn't have anyone either. 'But it is also how one learns to live independently.' 

The evening breeze suddenly made itself present as she walked slowly back to the village. In some months the snow will fall, and that meant she had to prepare the foods for the winter. She also had to find and store as much herbal remedies as she could, in case someone got seriously hurt during the snowy season. Then there was the jewel she would have to fight to protect. She knew demons knew that during the winter humans were vulnerable. Her warm-blooded species couldn't handle intense cold for long. She would also have to continue Kaede's priestess lessons in her spare time, which seemed to be running out like the last grain of sand in an hourglass. Like many other things, time is what she needed, but it was also what she didn't have. Another thing she needed she couldn't really describe. Actually, she didn't really know what it was that she needed, or why for that matter. All she knew was that she was missing something, and she wanted it.

Well, whatever it was, it would have to wait. Her life was complicated enough.

.........................SOME MINUTES LATER.............................

"Is that her, Lord Inuyasha?"

"Yeah..."

"She's very beautiful."

"You don't say. I hadn't noticed."

"Really, Lord Inuyasha. You would have to be _blind_ not to notice her beauty."

"Feh! She ain't _that_ pretty."

"But you agree that she is at least _pretty_, then?"

"Stop putting words in my mouth!"

"My, my, my, such young, healthy beauty. Such a nice figure, too. Her blood must taste great!"

"Is that _all_ you can think about?"

"Shh! She might hear us."

"I don't care! Get offa me! I'm starting to remember why they put you in charge of the old man's grave, you perverted, old man!"

Myouga jumped off of Inuyasha to get a better view of the beautiful miko who was picking different kinds of plants. Inuyasha had smelt her earlier but didn't bother to follow her. Of course, Myouga had also picked up her scent and was persistent in following it. And so now here they were. It was amazing the old man's hormones hadn't died off yet.

Inuyasha yawned loudly and placed his hands under his head. He lay on a soft curve of a tree that had grown awkwardly. He gazed up to the sky, watching the white clouds float tediously and idly on their light orange canvas as he heard the miko humming a beautiful tune he had never heard before. Everything was so peaceful. Something about this state of relaxation made him feel so..._right_. He couldn't really explain it. At that moment, everything felt right; the beautiful darkening sky, the white, feathery clouds, the almost chilling soft breeze and the priestess's voice. All were intertwined perfectly with his state of temper. And before he even knew it, his golden eyes closed to welcome a sleep.

"How I would _love_ to get a taste of that flesh!" exclaimed Myouga, jumping back towards Inuyasha, only to find the hanyou fast asleep. Oh, phooey. And here Myouga thought Inuyasha would show _some_ respect towards a guest! But it seemed he could care less. Oh well. At least he got a taste of his blood. Wait. There was the hanyou, asleep and defenseless, and his face was left completely unprotected. Myouga's stomach started to growl. One more drop of blood wouldn't hurt, right? He was about to suck Inuyasha's delicious cheek dry when he heard the miko's voice getting closer. That's right! The miko! Surely she would taste just as well or _better_ than his lord would!

Myouga leaped onto one of the few leafs of the tree. Unfortunately, that particular leaf was already ripe for the falling, and it fell all the way down to the earth, Myouga and all. After recovering from the "terribly drastic" fall, Myouga looked up at the miko. She was already kneeling next to him, picking different herbs that had grown around the tree. Myouga smirked. One more leap and he would be tasting that wonderful looking flesh. He jumped up to her and landed on her shoulder. This made her stop momentarily, which made Myouga very nervous. Would he die trying to taste holy flesh?

'_No! It's not worth it!'_ he thought miserably and was about to jump off, when the miko called out his lord's name.

"Inuyasha..." she whispered.

Myouga froze. He looked up at the priestess and saw that she was looking at his lord, who was still sleeping peacefully on his tree. Then he smiled. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. He jumped up and hung on to one of her hairs near her ear. It was at that time that Myouga decided he would play what many called "a conscious".

"You hate him, don't you?"

Her eyes widened in bewilderment. She dropped her herbs and reached for the bow on her back, but Myouga continued to talk to her to calm her down.

"Relax, child. Why are you afraid of your conscious?"

Kikyou stopped. Was this really happening? No. It had to be some sort of demon trick.

"If you are who you claim to be," she said suspiciously yet calmly, "why can I only hear you in one ear?"

Wow. She really was smart. No wonder Inuyasha had no fun teasing her.

"Listen child, there's no time for that. Do you hate the lo- I mean, the demon slumbering above you?"

Kikyou lifted an eyebrow. Even though her face was expressionless, her heart was pounding away at her ribcage. "Why are you asking me this?"

"I can see- I mean I have sensed this strange feeling within you. Surely you must know what I'm speaking of." Now it was Myouga's heart that was out of control. What if he had it all wrong? He wouldn't be able to get anything out of her then.

"I do not know of what you speak of," she said uncertainly. Maybe it really _was_ her conscious. "I feel nothing towards Inuyasha."

"Yet you speak of him so familiarly. Maybe this feeling of yours is not hate, but _love_."

Love? "I never said I hated him," she replied quickly.

"So you love him, then?"

"I never said that either."

"Still there's this strange feeling within you, a need that even _you_ cannot explain. How do you know it isn't love?"

This was too much. All those things the little voice was saying were true. How could she disagree? It was true she didn't know what true hate was, but it was also true she knew nothing of true love. She didn't know what love meant. If she knew more, maybe Inuyasha would mean more. Finally, she responded, "...I don't."

Yes! _Now_ he was getting somewhere. "So you agree you feel something for him?"

"...Yes."

"But you don't know what it is?"

"No."

"Well, that can be easily resolved. Tell me, can you ever bring yourself to _kill_ this hanyou? Or simply watch him die? After all, he _is_ aiming to take the jewel from you. Would you help him out if he were in danger, or could you care less?"

"I could _never _bring myself to kill him! If ever he were to need assistance in _anything_, _I_ would be the first by his side! _He will not die by my hand!_"

Kikyou covered her mouth with her right hand. Her icy fingers were trembling as she touched her dry lips, not completely believing she had just said any of what she had just said. For her, such words were not easy to confess.

Myouga smiled in relief. Well, at least he got one thing clear: this miko would never harm his master. He felt good knowing this powerful priestess could knock out Lord Inuyasha already had she wanted to, but she didn't.

"Well, you certainly are a sweet child, priestess," he said.

"D...do I _love_ him?" she whispered almost fearing the answer.

Myouga hesitated a while before going on. He wanted to make things clear for her without misleading her.

"_That_ I cannot say. You must look deep within yourself to discover your own true feelings. I cannot tell you myself, for I am merely a voice in your head. Do not listen to your _head_, miko. Listen to your _heart_."

With that said, Myouga jumped off the priestess and onto the tree where Inuyashaslept lazily under the dark sky, the bright stars and pale moonlight.

_**End of Scroll Six**_

Ugh.... Sorry about the late update. I lost my floppy disk and it took me forever to find. Plus I hadn't finished the chapter. Do you like funny? Or do you like drama? Or do you like fluffy-mushy...stuff? Or a mix of two? Or do you like my style just as it is? Or do you just plain don't care? Tell me! I'll do my best to give you what you want, even though the genre of this story _is _romance/drama. I just wanna know what style my readers prefer. Just pray to God, Buddha, Allah, Jesus, Zeus, the Sun Spirit/God, your favorite rock band, Sesshomaru and whoever else you worship, that I don't lose my damned floppy disk again. Thank you/Gracias/Arigatou/Merci/Diosmellamoquaje. Oh, and I have a question that I was hoping you guys could take the time and answer. In the anime, does Myouga know about Kikyou? I can't remember if he does or not and I was just wondering if you did. But if you don't, it's okay.

Adios! (Down with Bush!)


	7. Confessions: Part Two

Disclaimer: I want to own Inuyashaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! But in the end, it doesn't even matter! I have to wait to be rebornnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Maybe then, I'll own a little part of him...Linkin Park rulz.

For the sake of my story, use your beautiful brains to pretend that Myouga knows about Kikyou. I also wanted to add that last Wednesday, I watched an episode of Inuyasha that I missed when it came out and frankly, it really pissed me off. Not cuz the episode sucked. It was actually very entertaining. But by missing that episode, I overlooked many important details in Tsubaki's past and that just irked me to no end cuz that greatly disrupts my story line. So, once again, I ask you to overlook that info as well. Pretty much anything that doesn't make sense with the original storyline, try to make sense out of it. I'm trying to do the complicated task of mixing manga and anime, so bear with me here. So please, enjoy scroll seven.

**_Scroll Seven _**

**Confessions: Part Two**

Myouga watched as the priestess slowly made her way back towards the village. He sighed. He should not have done what he had. Usually, he only did that to random human girls he met. It was these girls that let their teenage hormones get the best of them that entertained him so, as they talked to him about their intimate fantasies and experiences.

But the miko was a serious one and he doubted she even had _time_ to think about things like that. In any case, Myouga decided not to think of it anymore. What was done, was done. Besides, he had gained valuable information that he was sure his lord would enjoy. Myouga was about to wake him up to tell him everything, but then he remembered what she had asked.

'_**D...do I love him?'**_

That question made him rethink his actions. What if she truly _was_ in love with Inuyasha? If he told him about it, how would he react? Would the feeling be mutual?

If it was as he thought, maybe he could use the information to his advantage. Anybody else smell _blackmail_? But first, he had to make sure if his master felt _something _for her or not.

'_Knowing him, he'd probably say that was a deranged trap of hers. And even if he **does** feel something for the priestess, he would probably deny it anyway,'_ thought Myouga, annoyed.

He looked at Inuyasha's sleeping form and sighed.

'_Kid's these days,'_ he thought, shaking his head with bulging eyes closed.

"Priestess..."

Myouga tensed. Had Inuyasha called out to the priestess? He looked up to see if he had already awakened. Even though the night was well illuminated by the bright stars and moon, the flea still could not see if his lord was awake. Myouga leaped to his side.

The sleeping form of his master softened his heart. If one would ever watch Inuyasha sleep, never could one guess he was an overly cocky and selfish jerk. He looked so innocent. Just like when he was a child. Myouga remembered how he would sometimes watch over him secretly, as a request from his deceased master. Yes. That was one of the first times he had tasted his delicious blood.

As Myouga reminisced the past, Inuyasha once again called out to the priestess.

"Miko...give me..." he murmured.

"Even in his _dreams_ he tries to steal the jewel," said Myouga to himself.

"Who's there?"

Myouga jumped. He quickly buried himself in the thick, silver mane of his master.

"Who...who's asking?" asked Myouga bravely, poking his head out from Inuyasha's hair.

"Who...are you?"

Myouga recognized that voice. He looked at Inuyasha.

He was still asleep. But Myouga was _positive _it had been Inuyasha who had asked him the question. He was sure of it. But his master was in a deep sleep, so that could only mean...

Myouga laughed a sinister laugh. Inuyasha was talking in his sleep, and he could hear every little thing Myouga said. This was it. This was the perfect opportunity to ask his master's subconscious questions no mortal being in Japan would dare ask him alive. Myouga leaped to stand next to Inuyasha's ear, cleared his throat and proceeded to invade his master's mind.

"Lord-I mean, Inuyasha. Can you hear me?"

"…Who the hell are you?"

Yes! It was working perfectly!

"Inuyasha...I am your conscious," replied Myouga, adding a ghostly effect to his voice.

"…Feh," was all Inuyasha said.

"How have you been?"

"I've…been better."

"You don't say. How so?"

"Jewel…priestess…"

"A jewel priestess?"

"No…I need the jewel."

"Why do you need the jewel?"

"The jewel...use it...to be full demon..."

"Ah. So you wish to become full demon?"

"That's what I just said."

"Yes, well...what's stopping you?"

"The miko...I can't take it from her."

"Take what from her?"

"The jewel..."

"So you say a priestess has in her possession a power that can make you into a full demon?"

"Yeah...she won't give...it to anyone...she fights...to protect it..."

All this Myouga knew. He had actually not known Inuyasha was here (he implied he did to "flatter" his master) and had come to see for himself the jewel so many demons spoke of. But he wanted to know just how strong the jewel and the protector were.

"Why don't you fight to take it from her?"

"What...do you think...I've been _trying_ to do?"

"Have you tried negotiating with her?"

At this, Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah...right..."

Now for the question of the century. Myouga cleared his throat and prepared to run for it, just in case Inuyasha cared even _a little_ bit for the miko.

"So...why don't you just...get rid of her?"

Inuyasha scowled. Myouga, too caught up in his fear, hid himself once again in his master's hair. It took Inuyasha a while before answering the question, but he finally came to a very important conclusion, and in a low growl, he said, "I...I can't."

Myouga's head popped out from a mess of silver hair. "You _can't?_ But I thought your heart's desire was to become a full fledge demon! Will you let a woman stand in the way of your dream?"

"I can't kill her," was all the hanyou could say.

"Seriously? Why not?"

"I...just can't!"

"I-Is it possible that _maybe_...you _might_ feel a strong _attraction_ towards her?"

Inuyasha's response was a mere "Feh..." but his face betrayed him. Suddenly, his cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink and his mouth was pouted cutely as if admitting defeat. The disgust his face tried to portray failed as a gentle smile forced its way onto his lips.

"She _is_ somewhat pretty...for a human, I mean," whispered Inuyasha after a while.

Myouga's face looked like the face of a girl that had just heard a juicy rumor. A juicy rumor she could use to her advantage. "Yes, she is," responded the flea to the hanyou's statement.

"And she smells really good too... for a human, I mean," continued Inuyasha, looking as if his head were in the clouds. After all, he _was_ still dreaming.

"Yes she does."

"And she's really strong...for a human, I mean,"

Myouga was getting impatient. Why wouldn't the guy just admit he liked the girl? "Yes, yes, of course. Does that mean you _like_ her then?"

An acorn a squirrel had misplaced earlier in the tree could not have picked a worse time to fall from the heights of the nest. The tiny acorn banged Inuyasha in the head and, it somehow, woke him up immediately, leaving Myouga fuming with anger and cursing the animal and its future generations to a life of unfortunate events.

There was nothing else he could do. Myouga sighed and looked up sadly to the sky. All that effort to get his master to admit he liked the miko took up the night. The first morning rays of the sun shot out brilliantly against the light blue sky as his master slowly sat up from his deep slumber.

"Good morning, Lord Inuyasha," he said, jumping to land on his shoulder.

Inuyasha let out a long, tiresome yawn that would make anyone want to fall asleep right on the spot. As he did so, his arms stretched over his head, and his eyes closed tightly as tiny tears of sleep fought to hang on to the corners of his eyes. His amber eyes half closed, he looked around his surroundings.

"Myouga...what the hell are _you_ still doing here?"

"Lord Inuyasha, how rude! Do you _wish_ me to leave?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself. I need to get back jewel stealing and you only serve to distract me," he said calmly. Then, an idea popped in his mind. He looked at Myouga and smirked. "Unless you'd rather help me out. We can fight to the _death _and--"

"You know, I just remembered I had to head back to my job!" said Myouga nervously and jumped off of Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Inuyasha, watching Myouga with golden eyes, annoyed.

"Well, Lord Inuyasha, I take my leave," said the flea, fixing his bag on his back. Before he took off, though, he looked back at the hanyou, and with a secret look in his eyes, he said, "Good luck with the priestess!"

"What do you mean, 'Good luck'?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously yet somewhat confused. "Luck or no luck, I'm still getting that jewel!"

"Of course, Lord Inuyasha," said Myouga, smiling devilishly. And Myouga left, not to be seen again for fifty more years; even though both had no idea it would be _that_ long until they met again.

**_End Of Scroll Seven_**

Yay! I'm done! I actually finished this on Monday, but I wanted to see if any one else reviewed this week, and they did! Thank you so much for reviewing guys! Your reviews give me an abnormal strength too keep typing late into the hours of the night. So don't stop those reviews from coming! I'm aiming for 100 by the end of this story! Don't be lazy, dammit! My birthday is the day before X-mas, so give me some long reviews okay!

Adios!


	8. Just A Friend

Disclaimer: Inuyasha iie wa watashi no desu. That is supposed to say _Inuyasha is not mine, _but I'm pretty sure I messed up the order and possibly the words…well, you get the point, nee?

Yahoo! Reviews are so cool!

You know your reviews make me wanna...

Shout! Throw my hand up  
Shout! Kick my heels back  
Shout! Throw my head back  
Shout! Come on now (Shout!)

Ha! That song is so cool. And this chapter made me wanna shout too, cause I was on writer's block for the longest time. Thenthis week was Finals week in school. And that sucked.

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Scroll Eight

**Just a Friend **

If ever there were a beautiful woman, it would surely be her: the lovely maiden Kikyou. He had learned of her name a while ago, right after he was hired to eliminate her. He secretly watched as she gracefully picked out specific herbs as a child watched her in the process. To think that this gorgeous woman held such great power in the palm of her hand!

He had heard of the Jewel of Four Souls a while back, when he was stealing from some weak and pathetic villagers to the south. It was said that the jewel gave incomparable power to any evil being that could manage to get a hold of it. Of course, no one knew exactly _how much _power it would bestow, because no one had actually gotten lucky enough to steal it from the jewel's guardian. Every demon or human that had tried to steal the jewel (and survive) from Kikyou grew bitter and angry at her. They hated the thought that a mere mortal woman could stop them from achieving their pernicious goal.

Kurabawa, the man that had hired him to get rid of the miko, hated her as well. Apparently, because of her, his arm was now permanently disabled. He had a very hard time moving his left arm. So for revenge, Kurabawa wanted to take her precious jewel and kill her. That's where _he _came in. But before he could make a move, he had to see for himself just how powerful that beauty of a miko was.

And he would have stayed longer too, if that damned hanyou hadn't popped out in the tree opposite him. He was lucky, he guessed, that the hanyou hadn't spotted him. It seemed he too was caught in the spell of the miko's hypnotic movements. Still, however entertained that half-demon was, he couldn't risk getting caught. As he made his slow departure, he took another glance at the hanyou. Then he stopped.

He didn't like the way the hanyou looked at the miko.

He _really_ didn't like the way that half-demon looked at the miko. _'I could come up from behind him right now, and he wouldn't even know what hit him,'_ he thought.

No. That was too easy a death for that bastard. He wouldn't let him go so easily. How dare his dirty blood even _glance_ at such a beautiful mortal as the priestess? Just who in the hell did he think he was?

"Inuyasha."

He saw him flinch, as if he weren't expecting his name to be called out. The man himself drew back somewhat, not expecting his question to be answered so soon. _'Inuyasha...'_ he thought with repugnance. "I'll remember that name..."

* * *

"Sister Kikyou, who are ye speaking to?" 

Distracted by her younger sibling's voice, Kikyou turned her attention from the tree back to Kaede. "Kaede. I'm afraid we'll have to continue your lessons some other time," said Kikyou, handing Kaede the few herbs they had managed to pick. Kaede was about to protest, but Kikyou gave her a look that meant she had more important things to do, and that usually meant danger was around. So, with a small sigh, Kaede handed Kikyou her arrows and left.

Kikyou had not wanted to scare her younger sister, but for some time now, she had sensed an evil presence nearby, watching her, examining her every move. The presence had slowly faded, so it was probable that it had gone on its way. _'I sensed no demonic power, but the evil within was strong…could it have been a human?'_ she wondered.

"I take it by the look on your face that you're finally gonna take me seriously?" asked a voice from within the trees.

Kikyou looked up into the trees and caught a glimpse of the demon's crimson clothes before he leaped down to face her. He threw his head back in a futile attempt to make his silver bangs move so his eyes could see. He looked at her and smirked. Flexing his claws, he greeted her. "Hello, Kikyou."

He seemed especially lively that day, Kikyou noticed. She remembered she had seen him the night before in a deep, serene sleep, and that was presumably the reason he was so full of energy.

"I'm in a good mood today," he said, taking a step closer towards Kikyou, "so why not make my day better by giving me that jewel?" Oh yes. He was _definitely_ in a good mood today. A good night's sleeps does wonders to the mind. But someone was bound to break that good humor of his, and he decided it would be best if the priestess were the one who did so, since she always managed to do it anyway.

Her calm chocolate eyes never left his cocky golden ones as she relaxed the grip on an arrow she held on her right hand. That same inexpressive face he had come to know so well, he noted, was slowly softening every time they met. Could it mean she was slowly starting to trust him? Or maybe it was just his imagination. Yeah. That was probably it. He didn't trust her. And he didn't expect her to trust him either.

Being the lonely loners that they were, neither had had many, if any, friends. In fact, Inuyasha never had any friends. He knew of no love that wasn't motherly and mercy was a word absent from his life. Unless one counted the times the miko had spared his life. Did dose acts of restraint from the miko count as mercy? Those times when she refused to take that final blow to his heart? If so, then those times would be the first a stranger had shown him compassion. Maybe _that _waswhy she hadn't been able to kill him.

They were standing twenty feet from each other, the closest distance they'd ever been since they met. Kikyou restrained a smile. She guessed it wasn't so bad speaking regularly to someone, even if they only discussed about the jewel, or about how stubborn he was, or about how much of a "wench" she could be. He was, perhaps, the closest thing Kikyou would ever know as a "friend."

Perfect moments like these, when a boy meets a girl in a romantic environment with no one but nature as a witness, are destined to be ruined. Both knew it was true, because both felt the rapid speed of a demonic power approaching. Kikyou's character remained unruffled, but Inuyasha was already putting on his fighting pose.

"_Jewel…_" it said in an eerie voice.

Kikyou waited until she could get a clear view of the demon. It wasn't a very strong demon, but it was demon nonetheless. She prepared her bow and arrow. From the shadows it appeared, swaying from side to side as if drunk.

'_A human?'_ thought Inuyasha, surprised. But that couldn't be. His senses told him of demonic power, yet he saw a human male in front of him, looking dazed yet malicious. But he smelled nothing like a man. "Ugh! He stinks!" he cried out in disgust, covering his sensitive nose from the fowl smell.

"That man is dead. A demon is using the corpse for mobility," explained a clam miko, still pointing the arrow towards the dead man. Inuyasha looked at her, amazed a human would know so much about demons. Then again, she _was_ a priestess after all. "What you smell is most likely the decaying body."

"Feh. No matter," he said, trying to divert from the fact he knew nothing of what she was talking about. " I'll take him down!"

But before Inuyasha had time to reach the walking corpse, Kikyou's arrow struck the man in the abdomen, forcing out the demon dwelling within the dead man. The crow demon flew away into the sky, and the remains of its victim fell apart where it once stood.

"It's a crow!" cried out an astonished Inuyasha as he watched the crow fly away into the sky. Realizing it was escaping, Inuyasha jumped up onto a tree and pursued the flying demon. "Claws of Steel!" he yelled, ripping the air in front of him with his claws. The power his claws let out reached the crow and tore the demon into pieces.

Kikyou watched him fall down gloriously, still surprised he'd gone after that demon. Why had he done that? Had he done it for her?

As if he knew what she was thinking, he merely offered, "I _only_ did it for the jewel." He landed gently at a safe distance in front of her. Kikyou studied him, attempting to discover if he was being honest or if he was just bluffing. "That way I won't have to keep hunting it down," he added.

She arched her eyebrow slightly. "Of course," she said and she turned around to walk away. "Thank you, anyway," she said.

"You sure it's safe to turn your back to me?" he questioned her, and watched as she kept walking away from him.

"Had you wanted to kill me, I'm positive you would have already done so," she said, as if rationalizing why she didn't view him as a threat.

"Feh," he huffed. "Don't take me so lightly, miko!" he yelled, running off into a different direction. "I'll be back for that jewel!" she heard his distant voice promise.

Kikyou smiled. Yes. He was a friend. _Just _a friend. And she liked it. The thought of having a friend, that is. Even if that certain _friend_ didn't see her as one.

* * *

When Kikyou reached her home, she sighed. Such solitude had been familiar to the miko until she met her _friend_. She was so respected, so idolized by her villagers, but no amount of that kind of affection could fill in the hole in her heart that cried for mutual love. Even the love of a friend would make her soul so immensely happy. She knew she couldn't have what most women her age had: friends, husbands, or happiness. Such luxuries were forbidden for a woman such as herself. And although the life of a powerful priestess was a lonely and sad one, she didn't regret one bit that she had relinquished her youth and happiness to keep others safe from harm's way. She was born with a special gift, and she had decided to use it for good.

* * *

"**Had you wanted to kill me, I'm positive you would have already done so."**

"Feh," he huffed to the memory. He could kill her if he wanted to. But that would be saying that the miko had a point in her statement.

"Who said I _wanted_ to kill you anyway?"

**

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****_

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End of Scroll Eight

Sorry the chapter's so short. I just wanted to post this as soon as I could. Just so you guys wouldn't think I forgot about you ;) I've given up on trying to keep the manga and anime at pace. There's just too much confusion, what with anime episodes that never appear in the manga and such. So I'll just do this how I want to, and I'll decide what's important and what's not. So don't go on telling me that I'm missing stuff from episode blah blah or from volume yak yak. And please be patient about these two. Love is like a flower. If taken care of properly, it'll blossom beautifully.

Uh...I dunno where that came from. Just feeling a little poetic. Well, you know the drill. Review please!

Adios!


	9. Welcome to My Life

Disclaimer: I'm sick and tired of writing these disclaimers. Why _should _I anyway? Is it not obvious **I do not own Inuyasha**? Idiot lawyers...

**READ THIS FIRST:**  
Okay...there's a scene in this chapter taken from the anime that's was too cute to leave out, but it might count as a **_spoiler _**if you haven't seen episode 140 something. Like I said, it was very cute, and I just _have_ to have it here. So if you don't wanna read 'cause you don't wanna spoil anything, don't read the last part of this. It's separated by one of these: (-), so you'll know when to stop reading. Plus, I'll even give the warning where the spoiler is. Just remember: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! Oh, and I've modified some of the scene to fit with my storyline! Thanks to the inuyashawrold .com for providing the summary. It was great!

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**_Scroll 9  
_Welcome to My Life **

A tiny, squeaky, and nerve wrecking voice was nagging at him to think about it: to think about the possibility that the miko was..._nice_. He detested such thoughts, believing that they only functioned to make him softer, and, even worse, to make him _think_. And that hated action was exactly what he needed to do: think of reasons why someone like her deserved a label like that.

Surely the fact that the wench stubbornly refused to give him the jewel was reason enough to call her a horrible mortal. He had asked her _nicely_ and she hadn't given it to him. All he received were disturbing holes from her arrows on his ruby clothes. So he then used "sneak" tactics to steal the jewel. But when that didn't work (he wasn't used to 'sneaking around' anyway), he went on to spy on her, to try and figure out her weakness.

As he observed her when times in the village were at peace, he expected to see a Kikyou with womanly habits: cooking, cleaning, scolding children, fetching water, putting on make-up, dressing in kimonos. But what he discovered was not a simple, female mortal who only carried out her duties in her spare time. He saw that, not only did the miko never seem to _have_ any spare time, but also the people of the village worshiped her, adored her, as if she were a goddess, a queen. To them she was not merely their priestess; she was also their light. A light penetrating all darkness that approached in the form of war, famine, demons, and death. She was their strength, their courage, and she was worshiped for her perfection.

He often found her standing or sitting on a grassy hill overlooking her village, staring off into the distance with that familiar focused and impassive look on her face. He noticed that in times as those, she would not be carrying the Shikon Jewel; it was kept safely within a small shrine, protected by a strong, defensive barrier courtesy of the miko. If ever that barrier was broken, the shrine would explode.

Sometimes, bratty children from the village and its surrounding neighbors would come to play with her. Their innocent smiles illuminated the priestess as they encircled her, dancing joyfully and helping her pick out medicinal herbs. Some boys even found the courage to collect a variety of wonderful scented flowers and gave them to the lovely miko, who would accept them gratefully into her delicate hands. Children, the hanyou found out, were the only beings that ever succeeded in making Kikyou beam a foreign, yet radiant smile.

This was the way she spent the _tranquil _days in her village.

The _normal _days in her village were another matter. The male villagers would be scurrying around frantically; reporting to the miko of demon threats, destructive evil spirits and monster attacks. Although she spent most of these normal days in the forest, she always found time to go back to the village and "check" on them. And even though the jewel should have been her main priority, in reality, it was her people who reigned supreme in her mind.

After a vexatious week of spying, Inuyasha had still accomplished nothing. He was no more informed about the miko than he was when he met her. Damn it. If only he were smarter.

If he had taken the time to analyze all his observations, Inuyasha would have not only found her weakness, but also realize how well he seemed to know the miko. He knew what made her happy, sad, and angry, all through mere observation. Had he discovered that, he would have also learned why she always seemed so lonely.

Although she was human, she was still so utterly alone. But he never understood _why _she was so solitary, what with so many of her kind surrounding her. _He_ had an excuse for being lonely. He was part human and part demon; a dangerous mix that was detested by species of both halves of himself. But he could not see what kept the priestess apart for the humans. He couldn't understand what kept her so isolated.

He couldn't understand her.

-

As silent as he was, no matter how careful his random ways of approaching her were, she knew he was there, watching, as if waiting for her to make a mistake. Discover a weakness of hers, maybe?

She sighed in amusement. He had promised to come back for the jewel, and he had only kept part of that promise. He did come back. But he didn't make any further attempts to steal the jewel. All he did all day, every day, for the past week, was watch her.

Though his spying _did _manage to get on her nerves, she didn't say nor do anything to stop him. It was peculiar, actually, watching him think. She honestly thought he was the least bright of the stars, but seeing him look so pensive because of her sparked her generally faint curiosity. What was so intriguing about her that made an impatient, hotheaded hanyou stalk her? Was he curious as to _why_ she hadn't killed him? Or was it something else? Perhaps loneliness? No. Thinking too much of it would only drive her to wrong conclusions.

She acted as normally as she would if she were alone. She carried out the daily duties of the day, although it really depended on the day. If there were too many demons, she would spend her day in the forest, exterminating the stronger demons first and leaving the weaker ones to the men. On those rare days when there was little or no turmoil, she would spend time on the village helping anyone who needed it and collecting as many medicinal herbs as she could.

She loved to spend time with the children. And it was clear that they enjoyed spending time with her as well. Many girls would volunteer in helping her pick medicinal herbs, and they envied little Kaede for having such a "cool" sister. The boys would often give her flowers, and she laughed when they ran because they blushed a silly, shocking pink. Their innocence and well being brought priceless smiles to her face. She loved the way they ran around, playing and laughing, with no apparent care in the world. And though she knew she'd never be blessed with having a child of her own, it was a relief to know that that sacrifice would not be in vain.

As she had learned earlier, it was not safe bathing in the nude. So now she always made sure she carried a white bathrobe with her when she went to the river. It was plain to her that even in situations like those, Inuyasha would still keep a close eye on her, so she decided it was in the village women's best interest if she bathed alone.

Indeed, he still watched her. When she poured buckets full of cold water over her head she made sure not to shiver in the least. Someone like her could not be viewed as sensitive as that. She didn't know why, but Inuyasha's gaze on her while she bathed disturbed her. Perhaps it was because she knew him. Or maybe it was just instinct? She wasn't sure if regular people viewed such a thing as strange; how was she to know? So she went on with her business as if the hanyou's golden gaze did not exist.

In the end of the day, when the sky reached its twilight form, she would sit on a hill that overlooked the village, watching her people go on with their normal lives; the normal lives she wished she could live. It was quite ironic, actually. She remembered once that a girl her age had told her she wished she could have been blessed with the life of a miko because her own life was so boring. She wanted adventure, power and respect; the very things that kept Kikyou linked to her duty. Kikyou would gladly give up all that she now had to live the life of that young girl. And she would often dream of the life she wished to have on that hill that overlooked the village.

But today, since it was as peaceful as the day would get, the miko sat down on that hill when the sun was high, signifying it was some time past noon. She was deep in thoughts of abnormal self-pity when she felt Inuyasha's lurking presence arriving. As usual, he kept his distance and hid himself amongst the orange and yellow leaves of the trees. Even after all this time, he could still not trust her. It was very likely that his experience would not allow him to.

She knew he was also very lonely, probably even more than she was. He belonged with neither humans nor demons. Humans ran for him because he looked demon, and demons ignored him because he has half human. That is why he so desperately craved for the Shikon Jewel. He thought if he was stronger, the demons would finally show him some respect, and accept him into their leauge. And then the humans would have a _real _reason to fear him. In the end, perhaps that was all he wished for: acceptance.

_His_ fate was truly tragic.

A lonely soul fighting to find its place in the world.

Maybe if she just talked to him, he'd understand her life, and see that both he and she were very much alike. She wanted to tell him how _she_ felt, no matter the risk. She wanted to tell him the feelings she kept prisoners in her heart and the secret thoughts that overwhelmed her mind. She had to tell him; she knew he'd understand.

Then..._maybe_...he could learn to trust her.

-

He didn't know what good it would do to keep stalking the miko, but it had now become an absurd habit. Between eating and sleeping, following the miko kept him from getting bored out of his mind. Damn. He _really _needed a life. He knew he had to make his move sometime, but he had run out of brilliant ideas. He had learned nothing at all from watching her. And he wasn't very good at plotting attacks either. He sighed. All he wanted was the jewel, nothing more. It wasn't like he wanted to kill her. If the wench would just give him the jewel, he would gladly go on his way. But noooo. She _had_ to do it the hard way. Though he didn't know _exactly_ what the "hard way" was yet. Well, at least he still had the comfort of knowing he could still sneak up on her.

"Inuyasha, you're there, aren't you?"

Inuyasha froze. Damn the miko's perceptiveness.

"Why don't you come out?"

Inuyasha's head popped out from the balding tree, gingerly watching her with a frown on his face. Despite himself, Inuyasha obeyed. He jumped down to land some four feet from the miko and sat there, being careful to not take his eyes off of her. After all, it was better to be safe than sorry…

"This is the first time we've talked close together, isn't it," she calmly asked him.

"What of it?" spat Inuyasha abruptly, cautiously edging away from the miko.

"Inuyasha..." She looked forward, her brown eyes holding an emotionless luster. This was it. She would risk everything by letting out her feelings. But she was willing to take that risk. "What do I look like to you?" She turned to look at him with her emotionless face, looking into his golden eyes as if they would give her the answer. "Do I seem human?"

Inuyasha looked at her carefully, attempting to figure out if this was a trick of hers to lower his guard. Why was she being so _open_ all of a sudden? "What are you talking about, bitch?"

Ignoring Inuyasha's familiar abusive verbal outbreaks, Kikyou continued. "I can't show weakness to anybody. I mustn't be indecisive. If I were, demons would use it against me." She looked to the tall grass, watching as the wind blew it gently with its touch. "While I'm a human, I'm not allowed to be human."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. What the hell was she talking about? "You're wasting my time!" He looked at her, annoyed, "Just tell me what you gotta say!"

Kikyou sighed. "Inuyasha...you and I are alike...since you're _half_-demon," she explained, shifting her gaze from the landscape to the ample, blue sky. She carefully thought of her next words. Opening up so freely was not something that came easy for her. "We're both outsiders," she started, taking sudden interest in the clouds hovering in the sky, "that is why...I haven't killed you."

He stood up. "Feh! What's this? You're making excuses? Stop complaining! It's not like you," he said harshly, and turned to walk from her. He had just gotten the answer to a question that had managed to dodge all kinds of explanations, and he needed time to think. And how was it that she figured they were _alike_? He walked away from her now, and with an annoyed scowl on his face turned around and said, "_I'm_ not like you."

She looked up at his form. "No, I suppose...you're not," she said meekly. Obviously he didn't think as she did. Perhaps he wasn't as lonely as she had thought he was. Perhaps he didn't need any company, and he had truly become accustomed to being alone. Perhaps she shouldn't feel as lonely as she did. She had no right to feel as she did. Just as he had been destined to live as he had, she had been destined to live this life, and neither could do anything about it. _'It is my duty to have the world on my shoulders...'  
_She smiled up sadly at him, clearly trying to cover up any emotion of pain she felt, "and I shouldn't complain."

She wasn't successful. Inuyasha saw it; he saw the pain of a lonely woman.

And it caught him completely off guard.

She was so strong, had the most powerful jewel in her possession and she was the first being ever viewed as perfect. But here she was, complaining to him that she couldn't _be _human. Perfection put her apart from them. For this reason she couldn't show weakness to anyone, in fear of demons taking advantage of it. Her magnificence blocked anyone from viewing any tender emotions to keep that perfection in tact. She was being forced to be something she was not, to carry out a duty she had no desire to take; to be perfect. She was unhappy because of the jewel, the supremacy it took to protect it and the strife it brought upon her life.

It was beings like _him_ who desired the jewel that made _her_ life an impossible nightmare.

And for the first time in his entire life, he felt guilty. He became aware of the bad things he'd done in his life.

And it worried him.

Why was he suddenly aware of his sins?

Inuyasha continued to look into the tragic, brown orbs that stared up hopelessly. She had tried to explain her life through a tornado of words, to make him understand the reasons for her actions. But of all things she could have said, none spoke out as loudly or clearly as her lonely face and her sad, broken smile.

(-)

**SPOILER TIME!**

It was Kikyou who broke their focused stare, standing up with bow and arrows in hand. However, Inuyasha continued to look at her, although his look was no longer an annoyed one. She looked at him and smiled at him again, this time with a more relaxed composure, as if she had just gotten rid of a huge weight in her shoulders.

"Inuyasha..." she said with a voice that could pass as sweet.

He looked at her, confused as to the change in the tone of her voice and to that unfamiliar smile on her lips. He no longer felt annoyed. Now he felt bad... "What is it?"

A gesture of gratitude for his company would be the proper thing to do in such an occasion, but she felt Inuyasha wasn't the kind of guy who would appreciate such an act. She hesitated for a while, but decided not to say anything. She turned around and walked from him, saying, "It's nothing..."

Inuyasha looked as she walked away placidly, and letting that new feeling of sympathy kick in. _'Kikyou..._' he thought.

Damn.

She really knew how to make a guy feel bad.

He frowned to the feeling of guilt tugging in his chest. How could he make up for making her sad? He couldn't just let her go away without some sort of apology. And against everything he believed in, he called out to her."Hey! Come back here tomorrow!"

Kikyou stopped. She slowly turned her head back to look at him and arched her eyebrow in curiosity. Did she just imagine that?

Great. What had he done now? Blushing, he looked away. Then he quickly said, "I, uh...I have something I want to give you."

Her curious face shifted to show surprise as she continued to stare at him. He wanted to give _her_ something? She didn't really know what was going on, and something told her it might be a trap, but she smiled happily nonetheless. "I have something I wish to give you as well."

Inuyasha snapped his head in her direction again, his heart beating intensely to the words of the miko. Would he really receive a gift from her? A treasure of hers maybe? "Really?" he asked excitedly, no longer able to contain his thoughts in mind.

She continued to smile at him, thinking of how cute he looked like with that eager face of an innocent child. Was a gift from her truly worth all the commotion?

Then he asked, "Is it the Shikon Jewel?"

Her smile wiped itself from her lips and turned into a frown. "Of course not."

The last grains of hope fell through his fingers as his shoulders dropped in disappointment. He looked away again, an annoyed look on his face as he put his hands on his hip. "Feh. Whatever..." he said, looking away into the distance.

_Later that night..._

Kikyou grabbed the necklace she had given Kaede: the necklace that could control Inuyasha. It had been resting amongst her younger sister's clothes, forgotten like the rest of the toys she had begged to have. She was sure Kaede wouldn't mind if she took it back. She could make her another one another day.

She felt her sister's presence as it neared her, and turned around to look at her.

"Sister...what are you doing with those?"

"Kaede, I'm afraid I must take these back," she said gently, holding the beads loosely in her hand. "I can make you another one if you wish."

"Are you going to give them to Inuyasha?" asked Kaede, apparently not minding at all that Kikyou was taking back her gift.

Kikyou chuckled, examining the beads with an amused look in her eyes. "Yes." She smiled. "It might be foul play, but it's in his best interest. It will keep him from doing something wrong." Her smile widened as she continued to look at the beads.  
"Now...what should the special word be...?"

-

It was a beautiful fall afternoon, as beautiful as any fall afternoon one could hope to get. Away from the village, to the side of a deep forest infested with greedy demons, a miko and hanyou met as they had promised the day before.

Inuyasha stretched his arm out and opened his hand, revealing a small shell.

"What is it?" asked the miko.

He took a moment to register his thoughts into words. Then he said, "There's no point in me keeping it. I'll give it to you."

Still not understanding how that could pass as an answer to her question, she gently took the shell from his hand, and opened it. A crimson gel-like substance rested within. Only after she studied it for a while did she realize it was lipstick.

"The only thing my mother left me was this and the robe of the fire rat," he explained.

This caught Kikyou off guard. This belonged to his _mother_? She knew only mortals wore make up, so that meant..."Was...your mother human?"

Inuyasha winced and quickly looked to the side with a far away gaze. "Uh...yeah."

Kikyou looked at him and his hurt expression. She could tell he really loved her. She looked back down at the shell, the ruby lipstick glistening brilliantly in the sun. How could she accept something with so much personal value? Kikyou closed the shell gently and held it up carefully towards Inuyasha. "I can't accept something so precious."

Inuyasha shifted his golden eyes to look back at her. "Don't think of it too much," he said, as if he gave away gifts like those ever day. He turned his head to the side, saying, "This robe of the fire rat is good enough."

Kikyou looked at his robe, and multiple flashbacks of it being torn by her arrows came flooding back in her mind like a river. She walked closer to him and grasped his hand with her smaller one. He looked back at her with a perplexed expression, as if this was the first time he had ever had physical human contact, and he didn't know how to react to it. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha," she said in an apologetic tone. "I had no idea it was so precious to you...and I've shot holes into it so many times," she whispered, looking like she was getting ready to cry.

Inuyasha looked at her alarmingly. Oh no. Was she gonna _cry_? "Yeah well, it's not something worth crying over," he said hastily. And here he thought he was being nice, but if it made her wanna cry, then he all his attempt were in vain. Desperate to change the subject, he remembered she had said that she wanted to give him something too. "Ah! So, what did you want to give me?"

She released his hand. Reaching into her sleeve, she grabbed a hold of the prayer beads that were begging her to let them out to wrap themselves around the half-demon's neck. The first pang of shame reached her heart, and she could not bear to take them out. Here Inuyasha had given her something very precious to him, something that he trusted her enough to keep and treasure. And all she could offer him was anecklace that would keep him bound to her will?She squeezed the beads, wishing they would disappear. She looked up at him with an apologetic smile. "Oh...sorry...I must have forgotten it."

Like before, Inuyasha's shoulders slumped down in disappointment. "What? Damn. And here you had me all excited..." he complained, and closed his eyes in a pout.

Kikyou looked back down to the shell in her hands. She smiled. Many times she had seen make up, and many times she had rolled her eyes at it, thinking it a total waste of her time. But all she could do to this particular piece of make up was smile in utter happiness. Of all the gifts that anyone had given her, this was the most beautiful. Even more so because it came from her friend. She looked back at Inuyasha, not being able to wipe the smile of joy on her face. "Are you sure it's alright if I take this."

Inuyasha opened one of his amber eyes, focusing on her smiling face curiously. He had never seen her smile like that, and even _he_ could tell that she was happy. Opening his other eye, he looked at her warmly. He smiled. Suddenly, it didn't matter that she hadn't given him a gift. "It's fine."

Her smile was good enough.

**_End of Scroll Nine_**

* * *

I'll admit it. I rushed this chapter. This is actually three chapters merged into one. But then I realized that three individual chapters about constant _feelings_ would probably bore you and I to death. So I cut out (a lot of) parts and put the three chapters together. But it's still good, nee? And I wanted to include that spoiler at the end. Wasn't it cute? And keep patient. You'll see grander, titanic, awe-inspiring sparks soon enough. Oh, and I forgot something very important in my other chapter. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LONG REVIEWS! Those were the best birthday and Christmas presents anyone could have given me! And thanks to xKazuko for dedicating that Inu-Yasha Christmas story to me. That was so...sweet. Okay...enough with the sentimental stuff.

Now don't be lazy and please review! I think I deserve at least that…

Adios!


	10. Simple and Clean

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Dammit...

Ah...reviews are good.  
If I confuse you in this chapter, sorry. I know what I'm doing...I think. Sorry for any typos. I can't seem to get rid of them.

Dedicated to Kusaki Hayashi. Happy late B-day! Are you 15? If you are, happy Quince, girl!

(I've edited this to take out the lyrics before I get in any more trouble. HAPPY NOW FF .NET?)

* * *

**_Scroll Ten_  
Simple and Clean**

In the comfort of the shade of the trees, azure eyes watched the blood of Kurabawa Hiroshi pool around the feet of the lord's guards.

Treason was not a forgivable offense in these times of war, and the punishment was death. And like a good citizen, he had turned in Kurabawa, arguing that Kurabawa had planned to kill the lord to take the sacred jewel. Kurabawa denied everything of course, until he was put under torture, where he confessed all his plans. The uncle, outraged, ordered him to execution, and he wouldn't listen to any of his nephew's ramblings about the good man who had turned him in.

Kurabawa continued to curse the man of said blue eyes until death took him from this world, disguised as the sharp edge of a royal sword.

In gratitude for saving his life, the lord granted his savior the luxury of residence in the castle, with plenty of food, women and money. He lived happily like this for a couple of days, until he found himself thinking of the jewel, its power, and the miko who held it captive. He wanted it. He wanted _them_. But, being the smart being he held himself as, he knew he couldn't do it on his own. He needed manpower. If he had men, they could raid the miko's village and he would be free to take her and the jewel.

But no such men could be found in this peaceful region of Japan. And until such men showed up, all he could do was wait and enjoy the gifts of the lord.

"I can't thank you enough for informing me of my disgraceful kin," was what the lord had told him. "Can I please learn your name?"

The man looked at the lord with a cynical smile. It was dark, and only one candle lit the room of the traitor. With his shady face, his blue eyes looked clearly at the lord. "Call me Onigumo."

-

Inuyasha watched Kikyou play with those blasted kids again. He snorted angrily, leaning more comfortably onto the tree. She had played with them _all morning_, damn it. Why couldn't they leave her alone for a while?

He watched them play around some more, and for a mad moment he felt a sudden urge to join them. But when he got the long awaited invitation, he simply refused to accept it, and claimed that the miko had lost her mind.

Though the kids (some of them at least) had gotten used to his presence, he just couldn't get used to them. They were so foreign yet...familiar. They held a strange trait that he knew he had once upon a time possessed, but had lost it sometime in his own childhood. It might have been sometime when his mother had passed away, and he was presented with the harsh rules of the world, rules that kept him losing and never winning. This same trait that he found in children attracted him to them, to the strange shine that only they seemed to posses. And he noticed the older the child was the less that shine shone. And he feared if he remembered what that shine was, he would also remember his lost childhood. And so that kept him away from discovering the purity of the young.

Sometime in the middle of a "Ring Around the Rosy," he felt a demon presence approaching, lurking in the comfort of the tall grass and taking its sweet time to get to Kikyou. Inuyasha hastily sat up and turned to look at Kikyou, thinking she was too distracted by the runts to notice anything. But Kikyou had also noticed, and although her face concentrated on the children, her eyes looked towards the side, directly to where the demon lurked. Grabbing a hold of an arrow, she calmly told the children to go back to the village and grabbed the middle of her bow, placing the feathery end of the arrow against its string.

-

"Show yourself, demon," she commanded, pulling the string and pointing the arrow toward the disguised demon.

It sprung up from the grass, fangs dripping a clear liquid with every intention to sink into priestess flesh. She let go of her arrow, perfectly slicing it in half. Snake demons were so easily destroyed when working independently. But this particular snake did not work alone, and its partner had intelligently sneaked up behind her while she was busy exterminating the other snake. And when she noticed with shocked eyes what it was up to, it was far too late to save herself.

"Claws of Steel!"

Or so she thought.

He was a crimson blur to her normally sharp eyes, and his attack left a trail of crimson liquid falling from the air. When he finished, he stood up firmly, carefully pulled the sleeves of his top as far back as he could and shook his hands as if that action would get rid of the demon blood. With a strange sort of anger he looked at her and yelled, "What the hell is wrong with you? You tryin' to get yourself killed?"

Kikyou merely stared at him as if he were speaking a foreign language. What was going on? Why was that demon able to get past her senses? And why did Inuyasha protect her? She looked at him with a confused stare, not knowing which question was more important.

He looked at her as well, the anger still easily readable on his face. Suddenly he looked away and crossed his muscular arms across his chest. "You're getting too damn sloppy," he said haughtily.

This was the first time she ever noticed his power. He was very well built, considering the faint outlines of muscles on his arms, his claws were as sharp as the tip of her arrows, his white fangs tended to bite on the lower lip when nervous and his ears...well, his ears were just cute.

He waited for her response, perhaps a clever comeback, but when he looked back at her, all she could muster up was a brilliant smile. A pretty smile but a smile that made Inuyasha uneasy nonetheless. Biting his lower lip, he looked away again though he was clearly no longer angry. She watched as his face challenged the color of tomatoes. "Feh! Leave it to you to smile after staring death in the face."

-

Kaede watched her sister smile at the flushed hanyou. She had been worried about her elder sister and decided to go back to make sure she was okay. But it seemed she was more than okay, for Inuyasha seemed to be great company. Kaede admired her elder sister's beautiful smile and wondered what the hanyou had done or said to her to emit such a face into the light of day.

She looked so...happy.

Something Kaede hadn't seen in a _very_ long time.

Kikyou, although she always seemed confident, had never really expressed any sort of happiness. She was always so serious, putting duty even before family. But Kaede didn't mind much, because she truly admired her sister. She admired her strength, her courage, her wisdom and her beauty.

She was so perfect.

And there wasn't anyone else in world Kaede would rather be like than her big sister.

But it bothered her that she had never realized that smiles, much like the one happily spread on her face, never came along often. Her sister's smiles were so rare that they seemed so strange. Kaede couldn't completely understand why her sister never smiled, refusing to believe that she was unhappy. If that were the case, what made her feel like that? She could be rich if she wanted to, few could challenge her beauty and she was so respected. And respect to a woman was rare. So what could it be?

What was it about the hanyou that made her sister smile so beautifully?

What could he offer her that no one else could?

Kaede sighed inwardly, disturbed at the possible answers to her questions. Well, it didn't really matter. If _he_ could make her smile, she was sure she could too. She was sure she could make her sister happy. She was sure that she could make her smile. She didn't want the smile that Kikyou had on to be the last one she saw. She would make sure there would be more where that one came from. She knew she could help her sister forget whatever she was unhappy about.

What she didn't know was that someone else also wanted to see Kikyou smile more often.

And so far, he was doing a pretty good job.

-

He thought he would lose it.

His sanity was put to the test when he saw that blasted snake circle around her for the attack. And for a moment he thought he had gone color blind, because all except Kikyou was red. Although he hadn't thought much about it the moment he sprung from the comfortable place in the tree towards the oblivious miko, he thought about it now, as she calmly looked away from him, adjusting the strap of the container that held the arrows.

There was a certain quality about her that made him curious about her. Something that made him _want_ to get to know her. She aroused a strange feeling in him, and that feeling felt like...the shine of the children.

But what did that mean?

Why did she retain the shine others lost as they grew?

Was it because of that that she treated him equally? Didn't it bother her that he was a half-breed? Didn't she care what people would say if they found her speaking to him?

Didn't she care about anything _at all_?

And why did she take pity on him?

Was it really because she thought they were so alike?

Or...was it really _pity_ that she felt for him?

"Inuyasha, would you care to join me in a walk?"

Her voice sounded distant to his thinking brain, but he quickly snapped out of it. He looked at her, wondering is he had heard right. Then wondering if he had heard anything at all or if it was just a creation of his imagination. Dazed to the confusion his brain had caused him, Inuyasha let out a gawky "Uh..."

A long and awkward silence followed as they both stared at each other, Kikyou waiting for a response and Inuyasha waiting for a repeat.

At last, Kikyou slowly closed her chocolate eyes. "It's all right if you don't want to," she said with an understanding smile.

She slowly walked away from him, as if hoping that he'd change his mind and catch up to her.

Inuyasha leaped onto a tree that she would soon pass by. He dug his claws into its tender bark and leaned to look at the miko carefully. "Doesn't it bother you that I'm half-demon?" he asked her.

She looked up at him and saw his ears twitch forward, anxiously waiting for a response. His amber eyes looked at her with a strange sort of stare, burning their curious golden gaze into the miko's serious chocolate eyes. Kikyou smiled, raven strands of hair caressing her pale cheek. "No."

That was it.

Kikyou held the same shine as the children.

She was pure.

She held an innocence found in children who haven't been corrupted by adult actions.

In a world were corruption is an everyday event, somehow, this woman had kept pure.

Something he had lost long ago.

Something that, when he kept near her, made him feel complete.

The feelings he held for her (whatever they were) were the only feelings left clean.

-

Eight eyes.

Eight malevolent eyes watched the odd pair walk off together.

"_The miko and hanyou, huh?_"

It crawled back into the cold shadows.

"_I'll make good use of that."_

-

It didn't matter how quiet their walk was.

It didn't matter that he was walking a safe two feet behind her.

It didn't matter the reason he was walking with her.

All that mattered was that he was.

Walking with someone by your side was so much easier and comforting than walking alone, and it somehow made it more intimate, as if they shared a secret that linked them closer to each other, a mysterious shine that only beings with a common knowledge could ever hope to understand.

The silence only served to deepen the intimacy, giving the atmosphere the quality of security that words were not needed for expression. It was like an eternal calm…a wave of pure relaxation that resonated from their innocent action. An intoxicating peace consumed the body and secured it in a warm and calm embrace. Only to excite it with a mere thought that this moment was being shared with someone who you truly cared.

And suddenly nothing else mattered anymore.

Except that person walking beside you.

He didn't have to say anything to her.

He didn't have to walk closer to her.

He didn't have to do anything.

Except stay by her side.

**End of Scroll Ten **

**

* * *

**

Yay! I reached chapter ten! I was gonna end it in this chapter, but I dunno what happened. But I think for sure it'll end by chapter twenty or before that. I dunno. What do you think?  
On another more random note, I'm having trouble making Inuyasha do fluffy stuff for you guys without getting him out of character. And _that_, my friends, is something he and I are unwilling to do. He keeps growling angrily at me and won't let me touch his ears, says that if I make him do _that _or _this, _he'll run away with Kikyou. I keep telling him that the only place that'll accept him is the circus, but he doesn't seem to care, though I'm not really sure he knows what a circus _is. _Just don't tell him he's got fans that would gladly take him in, for I'm sure he'll get very upset if he runs into an InuKag fan when Kikyou is by his side...  
Well, like every good romance story, there's always someone opposing the romance. Poor Inuyasha and Kikyou…they'll soon find out that the world isn't all flowers and butterflies when it comes to love…

Oh no. I rambled. Oh well! Review now!

Adios!


	11. Butterfly

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha. But if I did, I probably still wouldn't change anything.

Warning: There are a lot of...suggestive themes in this chapter, mostly Inuyasha thinking dirty thoughts. I just wanted to have some fun before all the drama starts to pour in. This chapter is all about Inuyasha and his raging hormones. He gave me permission to write this.

Inuyasha: **I DID NOT!**

This is what he gets for not letting me write fluff…little punk.

**And this is as close as this story's gonna get to a lemon!** I'm not good at them, so I hope you like this...

**IF YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE READING THIS, PLEASE DON'T (you know who you are under-agers!). I know you will anyway, but at least they can't say I didn't tell you so. Still, I won't go into too much detail. :smirks at her crossed fingers:**

**

* * *

**

**_Scroll Eleven_  
Butterfly**

They were in the unnamed forest and the sun was already setting. To think that just a couple of days ago he saw her as an enemy and they had fought constantly for the custody of the jewel. Now they were maturely discussing the life cycles and nature of animals.

"That's impossible!"

"It's true."

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"Why can't you just take my word for it?"

Though they still did fight. Just a little.

He grunted and crossed his arms, watching the dead leaves fall from trees as the wind blew them away. He looked down at her from his favorite tree and watched as her chest slowly rose up and down with her breathing. Then he narrowed his eyes to the mountains. "I just wanna see them."

Kikyou continued to look into the distance, watching the birds make their last trip across the flushed sky. She was sitting on the trunk of the tree Inuyasha was resting on as well, though he was a good ten feet above her. After a while, she grabbed her bow and arrows. Getting up, she turned her head slightly to the right. "Come and see then."

He looked down at her through the branches of the trees. He looked away again. It was so hard not to keep staring at her. Especially when her curves showed so brilliantly in the twilight. It didn't matter how baggy or conservative the attire she wore was because it was plain she had a nice...a nice...form. But he didn't want to get caught staring again. He could wait until she bathed again tomorrow. No, not to peep on her, mind you. He wasn't some kind of pervert. He'd be there to...make sure no one else peeped on her. But it'd probably be best if she didn't know. Stealing one last glance at her, he waited until she was a fair distance away and jumped down from the tree to join her.

She took him deep into the forest; every tree that they passed by was explored casually by the miko. Finally, they stopped in front of a small leafless tree. She turned to look at him, the same serious expression he had seen since day one. "Look here," she ordered.

He uncertainly went over to where she had directed. He was expecting something great, something fantastic. But all he saw was something that looked like a deformed acorn. He stared at it for a while, and for a moment he was sure the miko had lied. That didn't look anything like what he was searching for. "What the hell is that?" he asked impatiently.

She looked at the cocoon and said, "_That_ is the butterfly."

He looked at her skeptically. Then looked back at the deformed acorn. The shell looked hard and it protected whatever dwelled inside. If only he could take off its outfit to look at the beauty inside. He poked at is with his claw.

"Stop that."

He stopped immediately, an automatic response to the scolds he had received as a child. But he kept his eyes determined on the acorn, waiting to see if a butterfly was truly within it's hard and round shell. But he found no signs of life in its stiff facade.

He wasn't a very patient guy, and its indolence irked him immensely. When the hell was it going to come out! It wasn't as if he had all the time in the world to wait for it!

"It takes some time for it to come out," he heard the miko explain. She turned to walk away. "We can come back here when that time comes."

Inuyasha's silver ears twitched at her last sentence.

They'd come back here.

It was a promise.

He looked at Kikyou's departing form then looked back at the cocoon. He bit his lower lip. Maybe the butterfly _should_ take its time.

-

He was feeling particularly "eager" that evening, though he didn't know why. Maybe it was because of the way the jewel on the miko's neck rolled its pink-self tauntingly around the front of her neck. As he jumped from tree to tree, the jewel glistened brilliantly with the help of the moonlight, and it laughed at Inuyasha, sparkling victoriously as it continued to roll tentatively in the miko's pale flesh. This was the first time he had ever had the urge to beat up an inanimate object.

He inhaled deeply, attempting to calm himself, but it further excited him as he caught the priestess's scent. It was nice to not have her smell like demon blood all the time, but right now he wished she were the foulest smelling person on Earth. She smelled so nice, just like the forest that he had made his home. But tonight she had an extra scent. The scent that told male demons it was time to mate.

Damn.

She was in heat.

No wonder he was feeling lecherous.

Suddenly his breathing got out of control as he did the stupidest thing any guy can do while trying to prevent excitement: he checked her out some more.

He didn't do it on purpose. He didn't want to have dirty thoughts about her. No. He didn't want to think about the feel of that pale flesh of hers pressed against his own, or her small hands roaming his rough skin, or wrapping his own hands around her swaying hips as he pumped himself madly into her, or...no! This was exactly what he _didn't_ want to think about!

What he was feeling now was merely lust. And he knew what he felt for her was deeper than that, deeper than skin.

Shaking his head, he bit his lip and it calmed him down some. If the miko could control her carnal needs, then surely he could too. But then, that made him wonder...how did _she_ take care of her physical desires?

But just as soon as he thought of that he regretted it. Because now all he could think about was her and masturbation. Would she touch her body like that? Were those deadly hands of hers used to pleasure herself? Did she look just like she did back at the river, shaking and letting out broken gasps of air? Did she moan out loud and enjoy every minute of it, or did she bite her lip, suppressing the urge to scream out in ecstasy and maybe feel guilty afterward? Did she slowly rock herself or did she do it fast to get it over with? Did she keep her sensual brown eyes open to see herself come or did she shut them tight to the ecstasy of her skin? And did she enjoy the lustful taste of herself or was she one who hid any trace of her physical pleasure?

Was she even a virgin?

He growled at the warmth on his cheeks. Of course she was! She had to be! But it wasn't as if he had any way of knowing. Maybe if he were a full demon, he'd have a sense of smell strong enough to tell if she was untouched. Well, even if she weren't, all that would be in the past, right? But then thoughts of another man feeling her body, tasting her body, enjoying her body were enough to cause him to lash out at the tree he was standing on.

"Inuyasha, are you alright?"

He looked down at her alarmed face.

It would be so easy to take her right now, so easy to claim her body.

No! Why was he thinking like that! He didn't want her body! Well…not like that! Damn it! Why was it so _hard on_ him!

"Coming?" she asked.

This got him off balance, and he fell from the tree. How could that one word sound so…_hot_?

Kikyou watched his foot twitch as he struggled to get his face off the ground. "Inuyasha…?"

"I'm fine!" he said almost angrily, the heat in his cheeks growing hotter and hotter.

She coolly walked over to him and held out her hand.

He frowned, looking at her hand suspiciously. "What the hell is _that _supposed to mean?"

Kikyou looked surprised for a moment but that emotion quickly vanished and was replaced with a gentler face. "It means 'let me help you.'"

Inuyasha's eyebrows widened a bit in surprise but quickly furrowed them again though she continued to keep her hand extended for him to take. His head shot to the side and he mumbled, "Don't need help…" as he (with much effort) helped himself up.

Kikyou let out a small sigh and reluctantly let her hand fall to her side. "Inuyasha, if I'm annoying you, just say so."

Inuyasha was taken aback by her statement and didn't know what to say. What would make her think he didn't want her with him? "I uh…I…" he stuttered, fighting for a response. Finally he let out an answer that always worked. "Feh."

He saw her get confused and thinking she mistook his "answer," he added, "I don't care if you're here or not."

She looked to the stars. After a while, she said, "It's getting late." She started to walk away.

He turned angrily at her departing form. "I didn't say 'leave'!"

She turned to him and smiled. Motioning with her eyes to a stream that he had somehow managed to miss, she said, "I merely wanted to get a drink of water."

Blushing, he looked away. "Whatever."

While she slowly reached the glistening stream, he leaped up to a tree and sat on a thick limb of its many branches.

It was a mystery to him how she could abandon her only means of defense to the side, calmly get down on one knee, gently cup her hands together and dip them tediously into the crystal water. It was as if she didn't have a care in the world, as if she'd never heard of the mighty jewel dangerously dangling around her neck.

Well, no matter how careless the miko seemed, he couldn't delight in taking her same reckless attitude. So as she enjoyed her drinking supply, he was stuck with the duty of looking out for any lurking enemies. He sighed, annoyed. In any case, it would benefit them both. She would drink to her heart's content and he would get distracted from constantly watching her. No! She would drink her water, and he would make sure no one got close enough to steal the jewel. (Yeah. Keep telling yourself that.)

He closed his eyes after becoming bored and thought about how he was thirsty as well. But he didn't want to go down there now, not with the miko looking ever so...appetizing. He sighed inwardly. He shouldn't see her at night, lest he lose control of his sanity.

For a moment everything was quiet and he strained to listen to any movement. He opened one eye and closed it again. She was still there.

After he heard her take a few long gulps of water she suddenly asked, "Inuyasha, why do you wish to become full demon?"

He snapped his eyes open and let a surprised expression take over his face. He looked down at her and was about to tell her that it was none of her business when she interrupted, asking, "Do you wish to lose your human heart?"

He sat up straight and looked down at her. He would lose his _human heart?_ "What the hell does that mean?" he asked before he could stop himself.

She looked up at him and kept her composure placid. "Do you wish to lose your feelings?"

His feelings? Like what kind of feelings? He looked hard at Kikyou and she stared back with the same intensity. Then he felt those damn little creatures fluttering around his stomach. He tore his gaze from the miko and focused it on a dangling leaf above his head. _'Oh. **Those **feelings,'_ he thought. Those stupid feelings that made him feel, well…stupid. At least he thought they were stupid, because they made him feel funny, and not the ha-ha kind of funny, the this-is-weird kind of funny.

For a long time he had tried to deny it; to deny that he felt little butterflies in his stomach every time he saw her. He knew it wasn't normal, because he had never felt it before, but he didn't think it was anything serious either, since the feeling disappeared whenever she left. However, a new feeling replaced the butterflies when she left, a feeling of "mad boredom," he called it. He didn't know why he felt those strange feelings, so he refused to acknowledge them altogether. Yes. He was sure they would go away eventually.

He looked back down at her and saw that she was still staring at him, a familiar seriousness in her face. "Feh…I don't care…" he said. "It's not like I want to keep any of them."

For some reason this seemed to anger the miko, because she got up with her bow and arrows in place and walked off, not looking back once. Inuyasha looked at her as if she had grown another head. What the hell was wrong with _her_?

He was about to call out to her, but she turned around before he could, a single glistening tear sliding down from the corner of her cinnamon eye to her pale cheek.

Oh. No.

"Are...are you _crying?_"

Suddenly she collapsed, and she held herself as loud sobs filled the quiet forest. "Inuyasha..." she whispered silently in between tears and whines.

Inuyasha immediately jumped off of his tree and landed some feet from her, watching her shake uncontrollably, not even attempting to calm down. What the hell?

"Kikyou...?" he began, moving a bit closer. Was this really Kikyou? Was this loud and broken woman really the protector of the jewel? The woman he had seen so many times with an emotionless face?

He began to fidget, not really knowing what to do. What do you do when you make a girl cry? "Uh...stop crying!" he commanded. Perhaps in another world this would have worked, but instead it made the girl cry louder until she covered her mouth with one hand as if she knew she was being a bit too loud.

As much screaming as she was doing, it didn't bother Inuyasha's ears much, but it sure unnerved him to the point where he bit his lower lip so hard it bled. "Ugh...dammit! Can you at least tell me what I did?" he asked a bit angrily.

It had the effect he wished for though, because she immediately ceased her cries. "Inuyasha..." she whispered again, staring intently at him through shiny, blood-shot eyes.

Suddenly his heart seemed to skip a beat. And he could feel his eyes soften at her image. He hadn't noticed it before, but he was very close to the miko. So close he could see her puffy eyes and flushed cheeks wet with tears. So close he could hear her soft and slow breaths as it followed the beat of her heart. So close he could feel her aura intertwining with his. So close he could smell the heat that he knew was spreading through her inner thighs. So close he could almost taste the thick pink lips that threatened to engulf his first if he did not make a move. So close...so close...

He froze when he felt her small hands grab his shoulders and pull him to her, pressing her forehead against his and brushing her lips against his own. "Inuyasha..." she said more clearly now, letting his name roll out of her tongue seductively.

That voice swept right down to his groin. "W-what?" he asked uncertainly, feeling his face go up in flames. With one swift move of her tongue, she licked his lower lip.

He would have jumped either out of her face or onto her body had it not been for the miko's firm grip on his tense shoulders. So all he could do now was stare stupidly at her as she brought her tongue back into her mouth, as if savoring his taste. "You're bleeding," she stated.

He sucked on his lower lip, forgetting that he himself had inflicted the cut on that fold of flesh, and sure enough he tasted the metallic flavor of his blood. "Y-yeah...?" he stuttered the broken word out. His voice was out of balance and his Adam's apple threatened to choke him if he didn't control the tempo of his heart.

"Yeah," was all she said before softly bringing her lips up to his.

Her hands roamed delicately to the back of his head, and she gently dug her fingers into his silver locks, pulling him closer as she continued to press her lips on his. "Mmm..." she moaned, dragging her tongue over his lower lip and begging him for an entrance.

Inuyasha growled and wrapped his arms around her, smashing their bodies together and trying to suppress the demands of his groin. He felt her get weak and he slowly let her fall onto the long blades of grass below.

He set himself on top of her, one leg on either side of her hips, and he looked at her hungrily, as if waiting for a formal invitation. She smiled beautifully up at him, and he smiled nervously back. "Kikyou..." he said, watching as some strands of his silver hair reached to caress the miko's covered chest. Was this really happening? Was this Kikyou? Or was it her desire to be touched? She was in heat, after all.

"Inuyasha, please," she whispered so he could barely hear her. Suddenly, she roughly pulled him to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him until she broke it for a breath. "I need you."

That was all Inuyasha needed to hear.

He kissed her, sucking on that thick lower lip of hers and enjoying the soft moans that traveled from her throat and escaped through her mouth. He pressed himself closer to her, needing to feel the heat of her body but finding little, and for a moment it unnerved him. However, bold movements from Kikyou's hand made him forget completely.

He broke the kiss and looked down at her, feeling his face burn up once again. Her hand was right between his legs and she had gently pulled at his member.

He growled when she pulled again and fought desperately to keep his amber eyes on her. "K-Kikyou," he let out.

She smiled at him and grabbed one of his hands with her free one, lacing her fingers through his. "Inuyasha…" she whined. "Now!" she commanded, pulling him again, a little harder this time.

He lost all common sense at that point, and trapped her mouth in his, grabbing one of her breasts and toying dangerously around with it. He could feel her nipple harden through her haori, and he smirked when she gasped as he ripped open the thin, white cloth off, leaving her completely exposed to the night breeze and his golden eyes.

He lost no time in pleasing her and led his mouth directly to the pale breasts, teasing one with his tongue and the other with his claws. With one amber eye open, he could see her shut her own orbs tightly to the warmth of his mouth.

With one discreet touch of his knee she spread her legs open, and he took the opportunity to position himself comfortably between them. He had never done this before, but that didn't matter at the moment. All that mattered right now was her...

And the incessant pain on the back of his head.

What the hell?

"Inuyasha...?"

What...? Who was that?

"Inuyasha?"

That was _his _name...right?

"Inuyasha...!"

Who was calling his name?

"Inuyasha!"

Damn. If only everything weren't so dark...

And freezing cold!

He sat up quickly, taking in huge gasps of air and coughing out whatever it was that went in through his nostrils. "What the fuck?"

"You fell asleep," said a feminine voice.

He looked up and saw Kikyou standing over him, holding something that looked like a shiny bowl. He gave her a glare of confusion and anger. "That doesn't mean—"

Before he could finish that thought, her haori caught his eye. It was torn. It didn't take long for Inuyasha's brain to register everything into a simple, understandable theory.

They were about to mate and he fell asleep.

Kikyou noticed Inuyasha's roaming eyes, and instinctively pulled the fold on her haori to block out any unwanted views. "How could you fall asleep...?"

"Look, I don't know what happened! I didn't _mean_ to fall asleep!" started Inuyasha. He really didn't know he had fallen asleep.

"...While I fought that demon?" finished Kikyou, and she pointed to a dead water demon. It was a fish to be exact, a ten-foot, three-eyed demon fish, but a fish nonetheless.

"Y...you were _fighting that demon?_" asked Inuyasha in disbelief. "Then how did..." he mumbled, pointing at her haori with one lazy claw.

"It...surprised me," she explained, pulling once again at her torn haori. She threw the bowl to the side (which was really a fish scale) and pushed some of her raven bangs back. "And it was pretty hard trying to wake you up while fighting it. But then you fell on your head and that finally woke you up."

"Uh...so we didn't..." Inuyasha shut his lips before he could finish that thought. _'Was...was it all just a **dream**?' _

"Didn't what?" asked Kikyou, delicately raising one eyebrow.

Inuyasha looked into her eyes, and once again, the butterflies returned. He probably wouldn't have minded them much, if the woman's damned nude image wouldn't accompany them. "Feh. It was nothing."

**End of Scroll Eleven**

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Yes! I is finished! Wow. This is pretty long! Well, review please! And sorry for the (what I like to call) **blah** ending. I wanted to get this out NOW.

And I know I don't say it much, but I really do appreciate all the reviews I get from all of you, even if you just review once and I never hear from you again, or if you review for every chapter I post. I really do my best to imporve my stories for you guys and love the support I get. I really do! So thanks a bunch! See you next chapter!

Adios!

AndPLEASE go and review some of Kusaki Hayashi's work! Do it or I won't update dammit! Just kidding! But it wouldn't hurt to go and read 'em now, would it?


	12. Long Way to Go

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Not even water is clearer than that. And Yuki and Shuichi from **Gravitation** will be here. Needless to say, they don't belong to me either. If I say anymore, I'll ruin the story so I'll leave it at that!

Uh...enjoy Scroll Twelve!

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_**Scroll Twelve**_  
**Long Way to Go **

"Did you see Lady Kikyou come back to the village last night?"

"No, but my husband and some other men had formed a small group to go and find her. They feared something had happened to her."

"So then what?"

"Well, _he_ said that they were about to go searching for her, but she came back before they could, with her haori all torn and beaten."

"What? What happened?"

"Well, she didn't say but..." The middle-aged woman paused to take a sip of her tea, enjoying the attention of the other women surrounding her. It was a custom for the middle-aged women of the village to get together and share the events of the village once a week in one of their homes. These meetings also proved to be useful when wanting to spread a rumor. The said woman put her cup back down with the delicacy of a child and folded her hands in her lap. "I think it was the half-breed."

The women gasped, some putting a hand over their mouths and others giving the storyteller an I-knew-it-look. They knew very well of the miko's friendship with the hanyou, yet it was...social decencythat made some act surprised at the news.

But they all knew too well what was happening. They knew because of the pleasant change in the miko's attitude. They knew because they too had once been young. And they knew what it was like to be hypnotized by the attention of a boy. But the mere thought of their miko interacting with a half-breed was enough to spark gossip and turmoil in the small village, especially amongst the women.

"I swear, the miko spends too much time with that half-breed."

"I thought she had exterminated him long ago!"

"The children _themselves_ claim they get along with him!"

"Do you think it was _he _who attacked her?"

"Even if it was, I doubt the miko would have said so."

"My goodness. Do you think they've...you know."

Many outraged gasps were exhaled.

"Blasphemy! How dare you speak that way of Lady Kikyou?"

"Well, it certainly is very hard _not_ to speak that way," reasoned another woman.

They continued this discussion for many minutes; none noting that little Kaede was listening to every spoken word. She was in her best friend's house and she couldn't help but listen to them as she waited for her best friend to return from the restroom. Even though she was in another room, the walls of the home were pretty thin.

"What a _repulsive _idea."

"It truly is. I cannot _imagine_ someone as pure as Lady Kikyou..._mixing _with someone as sinful as that half-breed. His mere _existence_ is sinful."

At this statement, many "I agree" and "Yes" replies were said, and little Kaede couldn't wait any longer for her friend.

"What do you think Lady Kikyou _sees_ in that half-breed?"

"Perhaps she's desperate? She _is _a priestess after all. Even infatuations are forbidden."

"If that's the case then she's dis—"

When Kaede made her appearance in the room the women were in, a sudden hush filled the air, and many women refused to make eye contact with her. Kaede excused herself from the residence and ran to her sister.

"She's disgusting."

-

She could tell it would start snowing soon, so stacking up on herbs had become a priority. But that didn't keep her from listening to what her little sister had to say. "And then the other lady said that maybe ye were 'desperate'."

Kikyou listened intently to her little sister's news, though her herb-picking actions seemed as if she only held mild interest in her sister's words. "She did, did she?" she asked indifferently.

"And then this other lady was saying something, but she stopped when she saw me," finished Kaede, holding tightly to her sister's arrows.

"I see..." was Kikyou's calm response. Kikyou said nothing for a long time as she continued to pick herbs. She mused over Kaede's tale. So the village women were worried about her relationship with Inuyasha, were they? If that was their reaction at mere assumptions, she wondered how they'd react when they found out the _truth._

Not that the 'truth' was extreme or shocking either. They were only friends after all.

She looked back to her sister and noticed a questioning stare in her innocent, hazel eyes. Softening her face a bit, she asked, "Kaede, what's bothering you?"

Kaede looked a bit taken aback, but regained her composure quickly, trying her best to keep cool like her sister. "Uh...I was wondering what those women meant with their words," she said. "What do they mean about ye being 'desperate'?"

Kikyou stared calmly at Kaede, but her mind was racing for an explanation a child could understand. Suddenly she felt very sad for her little sibling. If anyone found about her friendship with Inuyasha, Kaede would most likely be forced to live alienated. "Kaede...I think they believe I'm looking for a...partner."

"Partner?" she asked innocently.

"Yes. You know...like a husband."

"They think ye wants Inuyasha for a husband?" she asked, a little too loudly, Kikyou thought. "That's weird! Ye would never do that, would ye, sister?" she asked, almost giggling from the absurdity of it all.

"...Kaede, would you mind taking these and storing them in the room were I store the other herbs?" Kikyou exchanged the herbs for her arrows and smiled gently at her little sister. "I have something I must do."

Kaede, knowing it was useless trying to argue with her older sister, walked slowly back to the village.

"_Ye would never do that, would ye, sister?"_

To take in a husband?

"I would have to be _in love_ to do something like that," she said to herself. With her right hand, she reached for the jewel around her neck and held it with a melancholy possessiveness. "But I gave that up a long time ago."

-

Inuyasha belched and smirked at the disconcerted faces of the children nearby. After deciding that a demon was surely around, they yelped and ran off to their homes. Satisfied with the children's frightened faces, Inuyasha started his journey to look for the stupid wench, when a pair of idiots distracted him from his mission.

"Yuki...! Don't you think this is a bit risky?"

"Stop whining...no one will find us here."

Curiosity got the better of him, forgetting completely that it was said curiosity had killed the cat.

He stopped himself from leaping to the next tree and dug his claws into the tree he was on at the moment. He moved over some dead leaves that had stubbornly clung onto the tree's branches to get a better view of the pair of voices coming from below.

"But someone might see us!" said a pink-haired boy, and Inuyasha knew he couldn't be older than eighteen. He wore a simple and worn-out haori with the sleeves cut off and shorts that looked to be made to work in the fields. His feet were as dirty as his sandals, but he had a nice, creamy tan on his face and arms. He looked to the man in front of him with his violet eyes. "Then they'll drive me from the village..." He looked to the ground, letting his pink bangs fall over his eyes. "Or they'll kill both you and me."

"Stop being so pessimistic," said the older man, who looked to be in his early twenties. "It's not like you to be like that." The man was the complete opposite of the boy. He was very tall and had strange yellow hair that was stylishly trimmed a bit above his neck. His yellow bangs almost covered his golden eyes and he was as pale as a woman was. His kimono looked very expensive, and Inuyasha was sure he was of a noble and wealthy family. "And it's pissing me off."

"Ah! I'm sorry Yuki! Please don't be mad!" cried the boy loudly, bowing his head further in forgiveness. Suddenly his head shot up to meet Yuki's gaze. "I promise I won't say things like that again!"

"That's what you said last time, and look how long _that_ lasted," said Yuki, looking off into the distance. "Sometimes I wonder why I waste my time with you."

"No Yuki! Don't say that!" cried the younger boy, and he clung onto Yuki's kimono. "I promise I'll be good!"

Yuki smirked, seemingly satisfied and looked back down at the boy. "Look...if we ever do get caught...I'll make sure you're safe," he assured the boy.

"B-but...what about _you_, Yuki?" asked the boy sadly, still holding tightly onto Yuki's kimono.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, Shuichi."

Suddenly, the pink-haired boy's face lit up with joy. "Yuki...!" he breathed out. "Yuki—you...you said my_ name_!"

"So?" asked Yuki indifferently.

"Oh, Yuki! Say it again!" cried Shuichi, holding onto Yuki's kimono tighter than ever.

"Hey! Stop crying! You're getting drool and snot all over my kimono!" complained Yuki, trying helplessly to peal Shuichi off of him.

"Yuki, I love you!" screamed Shuichi, and he pushed Yuki to the ground out of pure delight.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, almost fell from the tree. WHAT?

After a few minutes, Yuki gave up trying to push Shuichi off of him, and let him rest on top of him as he stared at the gray sky. Inuyasha had a mad urge to scream at them that they were disgusting, until Shuichi asked, "Yuki...why won't people accept us?"

"Because we're different," was Yuki's response.

"What a stupid reason," pouted Shuichi.

"Yeah...people are stupid," added Yuki, caressing Shuichi's pink locks. "They've got a long way to go."

-

Miwa Fon was never a close friend to Kikyou, but her mother (and her mother's friends) thought she was the closest _acquaintance_ the miko had. Strangely enough, Ichigo, Kaede's best friend, was younger sister to Miwa. So she pushed Miwa to have a little chat with the miko, to find out if she was in danger of falling for the half-breed, if she hadn't already.

The plan was set into motion when Kikyou took Kaede to Ichigo's place, two nights after the miko had returned with tattered attire. Miwa had offered to take Kaede to the festival in the lord's castle, in celebration of a new male heir to the throne. Kikyou reluctantly agreed.

When the little girls went to pick out a kimono for Kaede for the next night, Miwa kept the miko company. Miwa led Kikyou to her bedroom so they could speak in private. "Are you sure you won't accompany us tomorrow, Lady Kikyou?" she asked.

"No, I'm afraid I cannot," was Kikyou's response.

"Oh, hey. I want to show you my kimono. Can you help me put it on?" she asked before adding, "If it's not too much to ask?"

"Of course not."

Miwa carefully grabbed a kimono that was hanging from a wall and showed it proudly to the miko. It was made from a cheap but beautiful, almost silky, lavender fabric and on it were skillfully threaded a trail of small yellow flowers. "I made it myself," she stated, pressing it to her figure as if to give the miko a preview as to how it would look on her in a few minutes.

"It's beautiful," smiled Kikyou sincerely.

Miwa couldn't help but feel a bit guilty over what she was about to do. She knew that the miko was a kind and unselfish person, and she couldn't understand why her mother and all the other older village women wanted to pry on her personal life after all that she had done for them. But she had to agree with her mother. It _would_ be disgraceful if she were to end up with that half-breed.

The hostess wasted no time in getting dressed first and finished faster than expected with the help of the miko. When she finished pinning up her short, raven hair, and was certain of having her guest's attention, she let out her next question casually. "I've heard a half-breed dwells within the forest."

For the first time in the years she'd known Kikyou did she see her facial expression turn nervous. But just as quickly as she saw her get uneasy, the emotion disappeared. "You heard correctly."

"Ah! So he must be in search of the Sacred Jewel as well!" she said, knowing this was true. She grabbed the white cover up and applied it generously on her face. When Kikyou said nothing, Miwa continued her investigation. "I'm sure you'll soon rid his presence from this earth."

"He poses no threat to me or you." Kikyou looked hard at her. "Please do not pursue the subject."

Miwa couldn't tell if the statement was meant as a civil command or threat, but she was sure she knew what was going on. She questioned the miko no more and applied bright red gloss on her lips. She then drew a long, thin black line over each of her eyes. Turning to Kikyou, she smiled, "I trust your judgment, priestess." She did a gentle twirl. "So, what do you think, Lady Kikyou?"

-

_It was such a pretty day. The sun was high in the sky, and it's blue blush spread all the way over the mountains. _  
_Then she heard people scream._

_She ran as fast as she could to her home._

_She had to find her sister._

_People were shouting and running, and she didn't know why._

_She was scared._

_Suddenly, she saw a flash of red, and one of her eyes started to burn. She touched her eye, and screamed when she saw blood._

_Then the whole village set on fire._

_That's when she heard her sister scream something. She turned around and saw the sacred tree, Goshinboku. Someone was hanging from the tree._

_She turned around again, with a hand over her injured eye._

_There she was. Her big sister._

_But she was bleeding from her arm. And all at once, flames sprouted from the ground and encircled her._

_She stumbled and fell on her knees. She called out to her sister, but no sound came from her throat. _

_All she could do was watch._

_Her sister looked angry and sad. She grabbed the jewel hanging from around her neck and crushed it in her hands._

_Then a huge, black spider crawled onto the offended arm, and she could have sworn it was laughing._

_And then, her sister collapsed. _

_She watched as she burned into the ground._

Kaede woke up screaming. She touched her eye, making sure it was still in tact and properly functioning. Her hand was shaking. She peeled the blanket off of her and found her nightgown was wet with sweat.

This was the second time she had had this dream. What did it mean, though?

She was still shaking. She needed to tell her sister about it.

She ran to her sister's room, using what little light that was shining through the window to guide her to her destination. "Sister Kikyou!"

It was empty.

It took her a while to remember that Kikyou had said she'd be home late.

Kaede sighed, and crawled back into her futon.

It was going to be a long night.

-

She met with him that night again. "I'm sorry I haven't come by. I've been busy."

"Whatever. It's not like I was waiting for you."

She sighed, but let a small smile shape her lips. On her way into the forest, he had protected her from a demon that was sneaking up from behind. Perhaps he could have been...neater in exterminating it (the blood had managed to seep into her haori), but his action had given her more reasons to trust him. Forget that he was half-demon. He was probably one of the most loyal friends anyone could have. He might be half-demon, but he was also half-human.

He jumped down from the tree he was resting on and sat next to her. "...I didn't mean to ruin your haori," he said.

She looked at him, and found his intense gaze fixed on the blood on her sleeve. "It's okay. I can wash it off," she assured him, and held up her arm for him to see the stain in her sleeve.

He looked at it for a very long time, making her somewhat nervous. When she tried to move her arm away from him, he caught a hold of it and started to sniff her arm. "Hey...what are you doing?" asked an alarmed Kikyou.

At that point, he tore off her sleeve and held her arm closer to his amber eyes. "You're hurt," he stated after a while.

Kikyou, not really knowing what to do, just stared as he inspected the flesh in her arm. He squeezed her arm a bit, and blood started to flow out, if only just a bit. He called _that_ getting hurt? "It's only a scratch. I must have hurt myself with my bow or arrow in the confusion earlier."

"Bullshit. This is all my fault."

She looked at him, slightly dumbfounded. Her chocolate eyes watched as he momentarily let go of her arm to tear at her severed sleeve, and she assumed he was aiming to use it as bandages. He grabbed a hold of her arm again and he licked her arm.

"Ah! What are—"

"This is the quickest way for it to heal. My spit might not be as strong as a real demon's," he explained, not disturbed by the situation at all, "but it's better than nothing."

It was a shame she didn't share his same views. It was a good thing it was too dark for him to see her blush. "It will heal when it is ready," she said in her monotonous voice, and she tried to pull away her arm from his strong hold. However, Inuyasha was a very stubborn hanyou.

"I'm telling you this is the quickest way," he said, puling her arm back gently towards him.

"It will heal in time," insisted the miko, and she pulled her arm back again, more forcefully this time.

"Dammit, bitch, I'm trying to _help _you here!" he yelled, making the miko frown.

"I understand, but I can take care of my arm on my own!"

"Give me your arm!"

"No!"

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

Inuyasha forgot completely that he was dealing with a girl, and pulled her arm to him so forcefully, that not only did he pull her arm towards him, but also the miko, and she flew straight into him.

And that is how their first kiss was initiated.

It was no more than a mere brush of the lips that lasted three seconds tops, but it was enough to make them both shut up and pretend nothing happened. Instead, Kikyou quickly got off of him and held out her arm for him to bandage, and Inuyasha quickly bandaged her arm and bid her farewell.

That was the first time Kikyou considered the possibility of falling in love. Everything made sense. But reality was harsh, and she knew that, when people saw them, they didn't see a girl and a boy. They saw a miko and a hanyou. To them, it would be like uniting a predator and a prey. She sighed deeply as she entered her home. They had a long way to go.

**End of Scroll Twelve**

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Yay! I finished! Review please! Please! PLEASE! You know, I saw that new feature thing: the 'hit'...thing, and my story was viewed over one hundred times, but I didn't see one review more! What the hell is that! So PLEASE review you people who never review!

Adios!

Oh. I will be reediting chapters one through...probably eight, so updating will be slower. Except this next update will be Friday, cause I'm almost finished with it. So, yeah...review please!


	13. Ordinary People

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. However, I do own the original characters, so yeah...

Oh...my...freaking...god. I had the most AMAZING dream! Ah...It's too amazing to tell. Just know this: Inuyasha can be VERY sweet when he wants to. Ah...enjoy scroll thirteen!

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_**Scroll Thirteen  
**_**Ordinary People**

She was seventeen, and last night had been her first kiss. Well, that _did_ count as a kiss, right? Even if it was three seconds...no, minutes...hours...how long did it last again? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that her lips met a boy's lips. So that had to count, right?

Perhaps it wasn't the most romantic of situations, but then again, the boy in question wasn't the _romantic _type either. If someone had told her, about two months ago, that her first kiss would be with an angry hanyou who's life she would spare even though he was after the jewel she was guarding, she would have shot whoever it was that told her with an arrow. It was just so ludicrous. None of it made sense. Yet...it did. She sighed. Was she going crazy?

It was just not right for her to be kissing _anyone_ in her present situation. She was the guardian of the Shikon Jewel. She knew that much but...she just wasn't sure anymore if she could continue playing guardian anymore. Perhaps she would have given up protecting the jewel a long time ago if her promise to the lord didn't bind her to her duty. And she had chosen the role as priestess for the sole purpose of helping. After all, she wasn't born with spiritual powers for nothing. Like her wise teacher had once said, "If you have the skills, it's a crime not to use them."

But Inuyasha was...like a loophole in an agreement. Sure, she wasn't allowed to date, or have a boyfriend, or even have a _crush_ for that matter. But nothing said she couldn't have a friend who was a boy. Nothing said she couldn't spend hours upon hours just sitting next to him. Nothing said she couldn't just _be _with him for long periods of time. She wasn't doing anything bad. She was just spending lots of time with her...best friend.

Smiling, she traced her lower lip with her index finger. They were still _friends_ right? Friends...kissed right? No. Even she knew that couldn't be right. She sighed, a long, quiet sigh, and tied her hair back with her white ribbon. She grabbed her bow and arrows, and prepared herself to start her daily morning routine of demon extermination. She just didn't know anymore.

Well, whatever it was that was happening to her, a simple fact remained.

She had had her first kiss.

Now the question was, would there be a second one?

-

He didn't know what to feel. Happy? Angry? Embarrassed? Relieved?

He scratched the side of his face with one of his claws. Maybe _confused_ was the most appropriate word. Yes, that was it. He was confused.

Very confused.

After all, it wasn't as if he went around kissing girls everyday.

He had played the action over and over again in his head, trying to figure out how the hell it had all started. Let's see...they kissed because he pulled her to him (accidentally, of course), he pulled her to him because she was being a stubborn bitch, she was being a stubborn bitch because...because...he growled. "I was only trying to help her," he spat out angrily. "Stupid girl...who understands her anyway?"

That night was supposed to be like any other night. He'd meet with the miko, argue with her, then she'd leave. How was he supposed to know his first kiss would be with a girl that he fought with (verbally and physically) since the day that he met her? It just made _no sense_. _They _made no sense. Yet...that's what made it so interesting.

The only thing that intrigued him more that the wench's attitude was the awkward effect the kiss had had on him. The kiss just...caught him completely off guard. He snorted and focused his eyes to the gray sky. Maybe..._maybe_...if she hadn't pulled away so suddenly...he would have given her a _real_ kiss. He didn't want her to think he was some sort of wimp when it came to intimacy. "'Cause I'm NOT!" he screamed out suddenly, causing some birds in the neighboring tree to fly away. He sure as hell was not a wimp...at _anything_. He huffed out a frustrating sigh and crossed his arms. "I could kiss her if I wanted to," he assured the bald tree he was resting on. He was sure he could.

He just wasn't sure if the miko was willing to try again.

-

When Kaede left for the festival, Kikyou went back to her hut. The sun was already setting and she wanted to get a good rest from all the action that had happened in the last couple of days.

Today she didn't see Inuyasha, but she could sense him everywhere she went. She didn't know if he was keeping an eye on her from demons, to avoid her, or just to get on her nerves, but she was sure he was there. She just didn't feel like talking to him today.

She was getting ready to go to sleep, when someone called for her from outside.

"Lady Kikyou! I need your help!"

Kikyou automatically got her bow and arrows and ran outside. In her haste to get outside, she bumped into a girl, sending the girl straight into the filthy ground.

"Oww...!"

The miko was startled for a second, and wondered where the danger was, frantically searching for any demons that might have sneaked into the village. It took a moment for her to ask the girl on the ground if she was all right.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But don't be alarmed, Lady Kikyou!" said the girl. "I just wanted to ask you something!"

Kikyou sighed. A deep, calming sigh, that told her to control herself, even if she wanted to give the girl a good scolding and tell her the story about the "Boy Who Cried Demon". "What is it?" she finally asked.

The girl brushed off some of her brown bangs from her hazel eyes. Standing up, she smiled at the miko. "Are you going to the festival?"

"...No."

The girl's smile faded into a pout. "But why...?" she asked, nearly whining.

"Well...I don't wish to—"

"Oh no! Who am I gonna go with now? I really want to go, but I'm too scared to go alone!" cried the girl. "What if a demon attacks me? I don't know how to ward off any demons! I'll become their dinner for sure! Oh no, oh no, oh no! What to do, what to do, what to do? Please Lady Kikyou! You've got to help me out!"

Kikyou stared at her. "...Look...uh..."

"Oh! I'm sorry! My name is Kaori! I'm that girl everyone says is crazy, remember?" she laughed, pointing at herself.

"Oh," Kikyou said. She _did_ remember. Kaori was known for telling farfetched tales about the future. Kaede had told her some of her stories, which included giant snakes that gave rides to humans of their backs and giant birds that also transported humans on their backs.

"I swear we'll come back in two, no...three hours! Please, Lady Kikyou!" pleaded Kaori.

It didn't take long for Kikyou to decided whether to go with Kaori to the festival or not. It was probably sympathy for the girl's reputation that urged the miko to give the girl a chance to enjoy herself. After all, who was she to deprive Kaori of a festival held only when a new male heir was born? "All right...but only—"

"Really? That's great! Let's get ready then!" She pulled out two kimonos from a sack Kikyou had not seen. "I brought one kimono for you and one kimono for me!"

And before Kikyou could protest, Kaori was well inside her hut, happily lighting all the candles and desperate in getting started with the dress-up.

-

It was his sense of smell that never failed, whether human or not. It just so happened that some rich people were having a party on the other side of the river, and the enticing aroma of food reached his human nose without fail.

He leaned on a tree, his arms crossed, contemplating whether to go to the festival or not. He would have gone and met with the miko, but the events of last night weighed down on his mind, and he wasn't sure how her reaction would be. And going to her right now was a bit too risky in human form. _'I just can't risk anyone seeing me like this,'_ he thought.

He sighed lazily, curling his lower lip outward, thus sending the exhaled air up to blow his raven bangs from his cinnamon eyes. It was so weird watching things through black bangs rather than the usual silver.

Being human sucked.

Not only was his human body weak, and tired easily, but all his senses were kicked back a notch. He could only hear half the distance he could see, and he could only see half the distance he could see in half-demon form. His flesh was more sensitive therefore making it easier to injure and his tongue made his breath stink.

But as his stomach growled, he realized that it didn't matter whether he was half-demon or human, because his stomach would always demand food. And it was that demand for food that pushed him to go to the festival, unless he tried his luck on hunting with no superior sense of smell, sight, or claws. He stomped his foot, crushing many dead leaves in the process, and with a murmured curse word, he walked to where his nose took him.

-

Kikyou kneeled to look at herself in the tiny round mirror again. As Kaori had so plainly put it, she looked exactly like a doll. Her long, jet-black hair was pined up traditionally and her face was as white as the snow itself. Her eyebrows had been completely covered by the white cover-up and replaced by thinner and darker lines. The only lively color on her face were her small, crimson lips.

"I don't think _anyone_ will know who you are wearing that! I know it's not _the best_ kimono, but I think it looks great on you! My mom said I could wear it when I fill it out from the top, but I don't think that'll be any time soon. If she weren't so sick, then maybe she and my dad would go with me to the festival, but then again, it's more fun when you go with someone around your age, you know what I mean? Oh! That's such a beautiful color, Lady Kikyou!" exclaimed Kaori, examining the shell in her hand. "This looks really expensive. Did you buy it?"

Kikyou looked at Kaori's reflection in the mirror. "It was a gift."

"Wow! What a nice gift," she responded. "Was it from a rich friend?"

"I...don't think he's rich," said Kikyou, still staring at herself in the mirror. Was that really her?

"_He?_ Oh...so a _guy_ gave you this..." stated Kaori, and she smiled slyly at the miko.

Kikyou turned to look at Kaori. "He's just a friend," she said, more seriously than intended.

"Is he...that Inuyasha guy?"

Kikyou looked hard at her. Was she also trying to pry into her life? Would she tell others in the village what they had spoken of? Although Kaori was only fourteen, and pretty naive to all aspects of society, Kikyou couldn't help but doubt the friendship she had thought honest. But as she stared at her, at her big, innocent hazel eyes, she noticed that she was just that...very innocent. She just couldn't ignore the bright purity her aura was oozing. Letting out a small sigh, Kikyou said, "Yes. He's 'that Inuyasha guy'."

Kikyou hadn't expected Kaori's reaction. Kaori squealed and jumped around the small room, smiling brightly and letting out broken phrases that implied that she knew...something. Kikyou just stared at her until she calmed down. _'What a...lively child,'_ she thought.

"I knew it! I knew it, Lady Kikyou!" she explained five confusing minutes later. "I knew you and Inuyasha had something special going on! _I knew it!_"

Kikyou's eyes widened. "Something...special?" she asked almost skeptically.

"I knew it was with _him_ that you spent all your extra time with! And everyday you smile more and even laugh sometimes! You're not as serious as you were two months ago! That would be around the time you met him, right?"

"Have you been _stalking_ me?" asked Kikyou, staring at the energetic girl as if she were transforming into some strange creature.

Kaori's excited hazel eyes twitched, and she collapsed in front of the miko, kneeling in front of her so that they were now at eye level. "What? No! Of course not! I just like to observe people, and you just happen to be a very interesting person at the moment! Anyway, how's it going with him? Does he like you too? Well, duh! He gave you this pretty lip-gloss! I didn't even know you could have a boyfriend. Most women in the village talk about you, and they say you can't have one. Is that true?"

"We are just friends, Kaori."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I annoying you? I...I sort of tend to do that a lot," said Kaori, lowering her eyes to the floor and absentmindedly trailing her finger around the crevices of the shell in her hand.

Kikyou folded her hands in her lap and let out an amused sigh. "No, you're not annoying me. Um...what do people think of me now?"

Kaori smiled apologetically at Kikyou, whether it was because she thought she was annoying or because of what she was about to say, Kikyou couldn't tell. "Well...most of the women don't think it's...right of you to be his friend. Actually, most of them think you and him are...romantically involved." Kaori tucked some of her short, brown hair behind her ear. She sighed deeply before continuing and stared at the ground. "They've managed to keep quiet long enough so you wouldn't feel uncomfortable, but most of those old women can't stand the fact that you've befriended a half-breed. They don't think you guys are ordinary people."

Kikyou looked to the side, and wondered why. Why was it so bad for someone to be different? Why did they insist on judging someone based on their differences? It just didn't make any sense.

"Lady Kikyou, I want you to know that I don't think it's bad that you, uh, befriended him. I don't care if he's half-demon or not. I know he's a nice guy."

Kikyou didn't look at her, but she could tell she was being sincere.

"Lady Kikyou, please don't be sad."

It wasn't until the miko felt Kaori's hand on hers that she felt her hands were tightly grasping the kimono Kaori had lent her. Her cold hands relaxed to the warm touch of her younger friend and she looked at Kaori. She smiled. It was nice to know someone cared.

"Anyway, so can we go now?" said Kaori in her usual happy voice, and she handed Kikyou her shell back. "We don't wanna be late for the dance, do we?"

"Dance?" asked Kikyou, but Kaori was already heading toward the exit. Kikyou stood up and straightened out her kimono. She put the shell next to the mirror and prepared herself for a night out incognito.

-

It was a lucky thing that most of the food was free because he had no money. Since he was human tonight, he was sure he looked as ordinary as any other guy in the festival did. But, just in case, he had tied his hair back, thinking that _maybe_ it would help disguise him some.

It was very bright that night, despite the lack of moonlight, and it was mostly due to the many oil lamps hanging from the entrance of the many shopping, gaming and restaurant stands all across the field. Everything smelled great, but not all of the food tasted as great as the aroma smelled. There was much music and entertainment, mostly for kids, and everywhere he turned there were people dressed in their best. It surprised and comforted him that there were so many people, because it lessened the chance of him being easily spotted.

As he walked down the streets, trying out different dishes, he got some funny stares, mostly from girls, which really annoyed him. He tried to ignore them, but they kept staring at him with their big, girlish eyes. It got to the point where he _knew_ he was being stalked by a group of giggling girls, and he was about to tell them off when a man next to him started to yell an announcement.

"To all single, beautiful women: Do you wish to show off your stuff? Do you know you have what it takes to show that pretty face to the audience? Well, now is your chance to strut your stuff on the first ever Beauty Contest, were the audience gets to judge how lovely you really are!" Various young girls had gathered around the announcer, including the girls stalking Inuyasha, and were giggling and gossiping amongst themselves, waiting for him to finish. "Third place will win a one-of-a-kind set of make-up from Japan's best make-up artist, Mana Akamatsu. Second place will win the fabulous make-up set and a gorgeous kimono designed by Japan's best designer, Mitsuo Yasuhiro. First place will win the fabulous make-up set, any one choice of a designer kimono and..." he paused for a while and searched the crowd, and found many young female faces quietly staring at him. He smiled. "The winner gets a special dance with the eldest son of the lord!"

As soon as the announcer finished the last sentence, swarms of girls flocked over to him, asking him where the contest was being held, if it wasn't a scam, and other incoherent questions Inuyasha didn't bother listening to. He snorted. _'Girls really are stupid_,_'_ he thought.

He walked away to find another restaurant when a sign on a particular restaurant caught his dark eyes. 'All You Can Eat...For Free!' is what it said. Inuyasha smirked. "Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!"

Two bowls of tasty soup later, he screamed to the chef, "Hey! Give me some more of this soup!"

The chef looked at him with a forced smile. "Sure!" he said. He grabbed a new ceramic bowl and poured hot soup in it. "You know, this is pretty expensive stuff," he said, sprinkling green stuff over the soup. "You sure you got enough to pay?"

Inuyasha frowned. "What are you talking about? That sign says this is all free!"

The chef's smile quickly faded. "You really think we'd give all this food for _free_?" he asked, the volume of his voice steadily rising. "And what sign are you talking about?"

"That one," said Inuyasha, pointing to the sign at the entrance.

The chef rolled his eyes. "Idiot! Read closer!" screamed the chef.

Inuyasha gave the chef a glare and turned to reread the wooden sign. In smaller letters, right beneath the 'All You Can Eat...For Free!' words, it said: with the purchase of one meal. "Hey! You tricked me!" cried out the raven-haired boy angrily.

"Now I didn't! You're just an idiot!" screamed the chef, grabbing the nearest butcher knife.

By this time, a small crowd had gathered around the entrance of the small restaurant.

"I'm gonna make you regret that, old fart!" screamed Inuyasha angrily, cracking his knuckles to prepare them for battle.

"Excuse me, excuse me! Please don't fight! This festival if for celebrating, not fighting!" said a voice from within the crowed. Both the chef and Inuyasha turned to look at whomever it was that dared to interrupt their fight.

Sensing the bad vibes the fighters were giving off, one by one the people moved to the side to reveal the one person who had spoken out. He was a short young man, wearing plain clothing and sprouting from his head long, messy raven hair. He calmly walked up to the chef. "Good sir, how much does this man owe you?"

The chef gaped at him for a second, then stuttered out the amount. The short man paid the chef and turned to look at Inuyasha. "Your debt has been paid," he said, giving him a friendly smile.

As quickly as the people had gathered, they dispersed, leaving only the short young man and a confused Inuyasha; the chef was happily ignoring both. "Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked.

The young man, however, refused to answer him and instead commenced inspecting Inuyasha. He circled Inuyasha like a hawk, looking him over carefully, nodding and shaking his head as if answering questions. Inuyasha, feeling very uneasy, was about to ask what in the world he was doing, when the young man laughed and said, "Perfect!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Inuyasha, disturbing thoughts running through his mind.

"Oh, I apologize for my impertinence. My name is Tomonori Kusakabe," he said, bowing slightly. "If you do not mind, I wish to speak to you in private."

"I ain't moving from here," declared Inuyasha, crossing his arms. "What do you want?"

Tomonori was about to argue, but seeing the determined look in Inuyasha's face, thought better of it and asked the chef if they could "borrow the establishment for a while," giving him two golden coins. The chef gladly took it (seeing as Inuyasha had scared off all his customers anyway), put up a 'Closed' sign, and left Inuyasha and Tomonori alone.

"Excuse me, but may I ask for your name?" asked Tomonori politely.

"No," answered Inuyasha bluntly. "What do you want?"

Tomonori gave a small sigh. "As I have said, my name is Tomonori Kusakabe. I am the eldest son of the lord of this region."

Inuyasha looked him up and down. "Ha! What kind of fool do you take me for? You look like a beggar dressed in those rags!" laughed Inuyasha.

But Tomonori just smiled. "Well, I'm glad I do, because that's what I intended to look like. Do you want to sit down?" he asked, motioning to the stools. Inuyasha merely grunted and stood up straighter. "I'll take that as a 'no'," said Tomonori, pulling a stool from nearby and sitting down on it. "I would like to ask a favor of you."

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested," said Inuyasha, heading for the exit.

"Wait! I can give you whatever you want! Wealth! Women! Anything you desire! I just need you to usurp my identity! Just for tonight!" he pleaded, standing up and grabbing a hold of Inuyasha's sleeve. However, Inuyasha continued to walk away. "Please! It's the only way I can keep my promise to Kikyou!"

Inuyasha stopped. "What did you say?" he growled.

"Er...I can give you whatever you want...?" asked Tomonori uncertainly, surprised by the taller boy's sudden interest.

"No, not that! What did you say about Kikyou? _Kikyou!_" he demanded, clutching Tomonori's rags with both hands.

"Well, she—wait. _You_ know _Kikyou_?" asked Tomonori, clearly surprised.

"Um...yeah. So what?" asked Inuyasha indifferently, letting go of Tomonori.

"Well you see...I made a promise to her," he explained. "So I need someone to take my place tonight in the castle. I'm supposed to dance with this girl from a contest, but if I do that, I'd break my promise," he finished, resuming his place on the stool.

"What did you promise her?" asked Inuyasha, careful in keeping his composure neutral.

"I..." he began, showing sudden interest to the ground. "I promised her that I wouldn't touch another girl if she becomes my bride."

Saying that Inuyasha was shocked was an understatement. "You're gonna _marry_ her?" he screamed.

"I will if I keep my promise," said Tomonori, his head somewhere in the clouds at the mention of marriage.

Inuyasha looked at Tomonori, angry and annoyed. If Kikyou was engaged to this idiot, why hadn't she told him anything? It wasn't as if she had lied to him; she never mentioned that she was single or married, but it made him angry that she hadn't told him nonetheless. It made him so angry, in fact, that he had a sudden urge to kill the idiot in front of him so that she would never reach the alter. In fact...After a long pause, Inuyasha said, "I'll do it."

-

Kikyou didn't know how Kaori knew _the exact_ location of the beauty contest. She also didn't know why she had accepted to participate.

"**It'll be fun, Lady Kikyou!" **she remembered Kaori say, after she had signed Kikyou up as "Ayumi".

Now she and many other participants were standing in a line, waiting to be cheered or booed on by the crowd. As the line advanced, and the cheers, boos and wolf-whistles grew louder, she became nervous. _'So **this**_ _is how it feels like to be ordinary.'_

And in no time, it was her turn to be presented to the crowd. She walked onto the stage gracefully.

"And here is the last luck lady of the night! Number 40 and—oh! What a sight for sore eyes! As graceful as a cat and as beautiful as a rose!" cried the announcer with an amazingly loud voice. "Now people, let me hear it! What do you think of this foxy lady?"

Kikyou had never heard so many grown men scream as loud as the men present that night. The ones who couldn't scream obscenities at her were whistling or gesturing obscenities at her.

"Well, I don't think there will be a problem choosing our first-prize winner!" cried the announcer as soon as the crowd calmed down a bit. "Do you men think this lovely lady deserves first prize."

Kikyou found herself shaking her head and mouthing the word "no" to the "judges", but this only seemed to excite them more and they hollered loudly that the lovely lady deserved first prize. "That's it then!" cried the announcer. He looked at a paper he was holding. "Ayumi takes the grand prize!"

Kikyou sighed. This was _not_ happening.

-

"So they organized the contest to get you the best looking wife?" said Inuyasha, tugging at the robes he had been forced to wear.

"Not necessarily a wife...more like a...concubine," explained Tomonori, fidgeting with a strand of his messy raven hair. "My father wants me to uh, _experience_ what it's like to sleep with a woman before I get married."

Inuyasha looked at him strangely. "Why?"

"Well, _he_ just said 'So your wife won't think you suck.'"

"Okay...Anyway, how does your father figure the winner will want to take a spin in the sack with you?"

Tomonori blushed, concentrating on the wooden floor of his sleeping quarters. "He says 'A woman who is willing to let a man judge her body for prizes is more or less the same as a prostitute.'"

"Feh. Whatever. All I have to do is dance with this girl from the contest right?" he asked, trying hard not to change his mind.

"Yes, yes! It's just to give my father an impression that I at least tried! Then after you have danced with the girl, you can do whatever you wish," he said, his friendly smile returning. "And you can eat anything you want. That _was_ what your one desire was, was it not?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Inuyasha irritably. He smirked. That _was_ his one desire, but he had something else in mind. He remembered Tomonori had said he would marry Kikyou _only _if he didn't touch another woman. And now that he was in expensive robes and a new hairdo, he did look a lot like Tomonori. He wondered what Kikyou would do if she _accidentally_ saw him dance with the girl. _"The engagement is off!"_ he imagined her yell at him. He looked at his hands. It was pretty risky revealing himself to her, but he just _had_ to see the look on her face. _'If I'm lucky, she won't recognize me,'_ he thought.

"Wow...I guess I was lucky to find someone who looks almost _exactly_ as I do!" laughed Tomonori. He stood up, as did Inuyasha. "I wonder if anyone will notice that you're a bit taller."

"A bit?" snorted out Inuyasha. "I'm a giant compared to you!"

Tomonori coughed. "Yes, well, I hope you know what to do in the dance floor. No one will be watching you, but you still have to dance in the traditional style of our foreign guests."

"Feh! It ain't _that_ hard. All you do is spin around with the girl," stated Inuyasha, tugging at his very high and annoying ponytail.

"Then, when it's all over, I'll explain to Kikyou that it was another who danced with the girl and the engagement will continue," said Tomonori, more to himself than Inuyasha. "Oh...you haven't told me your name—"

They heard a knock on the door and Tomonori scrambled to get inside of his wardrobe. Inuyasha cleared his throat and said, "What?"

"Lord Tomonori, the girl is here," announced the voice.

"Okay! I'll be right there!" said Inuyasha, and he headed toward the sliding door.

"Good luck! Remember: follow the servant with the purple flower on her hair. She'll lead you to where you have to go," he heard Tomonori say from within the wardrobe. "And have fun!"

Inuyasha smirked. "I will." And he walked outside where a girl with a purple flower on her short, brown hair was waiting.

**End of Scroll Thirteen

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**

Hm...how did seven pages turn into fourteen pages? I guess it was about time I ran into writer's block for this story. I really didn't mean to have a cliffhanger. Sorry! I'll update as soon as I can! You guys are so nice...:sniff:...so nice.

Now review please! What do _you_ think will happen to these two late bloomers? Who will be my one-hundreth reviewer? I feel cool! Muahahahaha!

Adios!


	14. Lose Control: Part I

Disclaimer: Read previous disclaimer.

Thanks so much for all of your reviews! But, especially to Cerulean San, 'cause she is my one-hundredth reviewer! She will contribute to the next chapter of this story.

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_**Scroll Fourteen  
**_**Lose Control: ****Part I**

Kikyou was pushed into an enormous room where only four candles were lit, each arranged in a corner of the room. The light of the candles only illuminated those four corners, so the room she stood in was mostly dark. She stared at the empty room, annoyed. How were she and her partner supposed to dance if there was no music and if she couldn't see a thing? She turned to ask the servant who had escorted her what was _really_ going on, but the servant had left long ago.

She stood there, in the dark, waiting for someone to come back into the room. She really hadn't counted on winning, much less considered dancing with a man she'd never met before, but what was she to do now? Leave and defy the lord of the land she lived in? No. It would be the same as telling him she, Kikyou, had lied about her identity and won a beauty contest to dance with is son. All she could do now was stay and get everything over with.

While waiting, she thought about a certain fourteen-year-old girl with short brown hair and big hazel eyes. Kaori was a strange girl and the most persuasive person Kikyou had ever met. That girl had managed to get Kikyou to accompany her to the festival, enter a beauty contest and convinced her not to "miss the chance of meeting a rich guy." Sighing, Kikyou wondered whether she was indeed a gullible person when it came to children.

She was interrupted from her newfound knowledge when she heard the sliding door reopen. She couldn't distinguish clearly the two silhouettes that entered the room and were standing (more or less) ten feet from her, but she assumed the shorter person was a girl while the taller figure was a man.

"Lord Tomonori, I present to you the winner of the beauty contest, Miss Ayumi," announced the maid, her voice bouncing off the walls of the room. The man simply nodded his head. "Miss Ayumi, I present to you the eldest son of Lord Kusakabe, Lord Tomonori," she said. Kikyou bowed, wondering if it was even necessary since she doubted they could see her. "Lord Kusakabe will be here shortly to welcome you properly Miss Ayumi," said the girl, and she walked away swiftly, closing the sliding door behind her.

For a moment they simply stood there, neither making a move. _'Oh no! Lord Kusakabe will surely recognize me! He personally asked me to guard the jewel!'_ thought Kikyou, suddenly terrified of reuniting with her 'boss'. She stared at the wooden floor, trying hard not to fulfill the sudden urge of running away. Closing her eyes, she cleared her mind, and thought of all the positive things...which was extremely hard since she couldn't think of any.

"Uh...you _do_ know how to dance right?"

Kikyou's head slowly raised to look at Tomonori. For a moment, she thought the voice had sounded familiar...like...She shook her head to rid her mind of the silly idea and smiled. She was just thinking crazy now. Inuyasha would never enter this castle, and she doubted anyone would let him anyway. But her mind hatched up another idea. Since the room was so dark, perhaps she could _disguise_ her voice! Then Lord Kusakabe might not recognize her!

"No? Yet you still entered the contest knowing you have to dance?"

Kikyou looked puzzled for a moment, wondering if she had responded to his earlier question. Then she said, in an attempted imitation of Kaori's squeal-like voice, "Yes..." and the word echoed eerily throughout the room.

She was sure she had seen his shoulders twitch, as if he was terrified of her voice, and she accidentally let out a giggle but silenced it quickly by putting a hand over her mouth.

She heard the sliding door open and watched as Lord Kusakabe walked in. "My, it's dark in here!" he cried. "My apologies, Miss Ayumi, but we really couldn't afford more oil lamps or candles for this ballroom."

Tomonori snorted and both she and the lord stared at him. "Yeah...we apologize," he said after a while.

"It's alright," said Kikyou in her squeaky voice. "Thank you for allowing me to be present at your castle tonight." She pursed her lips. Was that too prudent?

"Uh, well, thank you for your discreetness Miss Ayumi. Now, if you and my son will just wait for the orchestra to start playing, you can start dancing!" he said cheerily. He headed for the exit and paused a moment to look at his son. "I told you those herbs would help you grow taller."

His son snorted again and walked to stand next to him. He whispered something to his ear, to which Lord Kusakabe responded, "She's not here yet. I thought you said you'd wait until a servant comes to tell you she's here when you're in your room." Tomonori seemed startled for a bit and whispered something else to his father. "Fine, I'll tell the maid you'll be here all night." And then Lord Kusakabe left.

Kikyou could feel her heartbeat gradually slow down after it was beating incessantly in her chest in fear of being discovered.

Almost instantly she heard a clash of strange noises coming from the other side of a wall.

"Well, that's the music," said Tomonori as he walked straight to her. He stopped suddenly and stretched out his hand. "Give me your hand."

Kikyou hesitated, but extended her hand for him to take. He pulled her to him, almost roughly, and put one hand on her waist and with the other held her right hand.

"Put your other hand on my shoulder," he ordered.

She silently obeyed him, waiting for the next set of instructions. Still, the sudden act of physical contact unnerved some.

"Just follow my lead," he grumbled indifferently and moved his foot back in tune with the strange music.

The miko, eager to get everything over with, started to move her foot forward, but the Lord Tomonori had suddenly shifted to the side, causing her to crash straight into him.

"Dammit! I thought I told you to follow my lead!" he screamed, which in other circumstances, she wouldn't have minded, except he was screaming straight into her ear.

"I apologize, my lord," she mumbled, trying to hide the irritation in her voice.

Tomonori merely grunted and again he pulled her toward him as he stepped back once more. Their awkward dance had not lasted five seconds when Tomonori stepped on her foot. "Dammit, woman! Show a little bit of grace, will you?" he yelled into her ear again.

"But _you_ stepped on _my_ foot," reasoned Kikyou, to which the angry lord responded, "Only because your a clumsy fool!" Kikyou sighed; realizing it would be useless and unwise to keep arguing. _'This will be a long night...'_ she thought miserably as Tomonori found yet another reason to yell at her.

-

Inuyasha was glad those hours forced to attend social parties in his childhood years were finally paying off. While he had forgotten all of the "manners" his mother had tried to teach him, he hadn't forgotten the long, boring dances his mother and he attended. In those types of social events, people from far and near attended merely to represent their province and make treaties with neighboring countries. Inuyasha had always found them boring however, and could always be found pouting in a corner of the ballroom or pouting outside.

The times he spent pouting inside, he, out of sheer boredom, had observed and memorized the different ways foreigners had danced. The most intriguing, however, were the westerners. They danced very closely together, and the man was in complete control of the dance. They called it, he remembered, a _waltz_.

If this girl was to be seen dancing a waltz with him, she might as well know the basic principles before going out in public.

But he was not a very patient person, and his attempts to teach her the steps quickly served to no avail, because no matter what he did, he would either step on her foot or they would painfully bump into each other. It was bad enough every part of his body felt weak, but to have this clumsy woman (Ayumi, was it?) slam into him was sheer torture in his vulnerable state.

"Don't be so stiff girl!" he bellowed, and even through the layers of robes on him he could feel the sharp fingernails of the girl torturously dig into his shoulder as she mumbled an apology.

He bit back a moan of pain and continued dancing with her, pulling her this way and that way, leading her into the melody of the loud music playing in the next room.

Sooner than expected, he and she were placidly dancing around the dark room, and for the first time since he entered the room, he had curiosity as to how the girl's physical features were. What color was her hair? Her eyes? Was she really the most beautiful eligible woman tonight? Somehow, he doubted it. He was sure not everyone was able to attend, like Kikyou for instance. If _she_ had entered the contest, she would surely be dancing with him at this instant. Hmm...A dance with Kikyou, eh?

If it were _Kikyou_ dancing with him tonight, he would be much gentler, lest she unleash her wrath upon him by stabbing him with an arrow. She would probably never scream at him, or complain, but her stares were more intense than her words. He didn't know how she did it, talk to him without saying a word. He could talk for hours and hours to her and she would say nothing, just listen to him. At first he couldn't tell if she was just too shy to talk to him, then he figured she was simply bored of his constant blabs but was being nice by pretending to listen. In the end, he figured she was just real quiet, otherwise she wouldn't keep going back to meet him at night.

So, knowing the kind of girl the miko was, he knew she would never attend any sort of festivity, much less enter a beauty contest. That was just one of the many things that would never happen.

The seven hells had to freeze over first.

Then again, who would have ever thought she was engaged?

"Hey, did you really want to dance with me tonight?" he suddenly asked out of the blue.

The girl didn't look up at him, but looked to the side, and all he saw was her shadowed face. "What do you mean?" she asked quietly.

"I mean, why else would you have entered the contest?"

She didn't say anything for a long time and continued to look to the side, seemingly musing over his question. "I wasn't planning on winning," she finally said.

Inuyasha looked hard at her. "You know how you look, so you must've had a pretty good idea about your chances," he explained, suddenly sensing she was hiding something. "If you were judged on your beauty, you must've known you'd have a good chance, considering you won," he continued. "Where you thinking of getting somewhere with me tonight?"

He knew he had disturbed her thoughts when she sharply faced him and pushed him back slowly. "_Nothing_ like that had run through my mind."

"Does that mean you wouldn't sleep with me?"

At that, the girl pulled her hands off of him and stepped back. "I'm sorry my lord, but I'm not that kind of girl."

Inuyasha looked at her silhouette indifferently. He hadn't meant it like that. _'Tomonori wouldn't have gotten very far with her then, unless she's just putting up this act of an innocent girl,'_ he thought. "Look, I don't care. I just—"

Before he could finish his sentence and assure Ayumi that he didn't mean to suggest she should sleep with him, the sliding door opened. "Lord Tomonori, excuse me, but..."

It took a while for Inuyasha to figure out it was he whom the maid was talking to. "Oh...what?"

"She's here."

That was all she had to say. He knew _exactly_ whom she was talking about. "Okay," he said, and the maid closed the sliding door again. He turned to look at Ayumi's outline.

"Uh, you know how to dance now so we have to go and introduce ourselves," he said hastily, hoping she wouldn't ask him any questions.

He grabbed her by the wrist and walked with long strides to the sliding door, dragging Ayumi behind him. He heard her tell him to wait, or something similar, but he was too busy trying to figure out what he'd do when he saw _her_.

After walking down the dark hall for a few seconds, a large amount of voices started to drown out the music, and they grew louder as he came upon a long, velvet curtain. Without thinking twice, he grabbed the bottom of the curtain and pulled it up, and stepped into the party.

The sudden presence of light pained his eyes and he squinted as he tried to make out the enormous room he'd just stepped into. He looked back at Ayumi and saw that she was still on the other side of the curtain, so he pulled her violently onto the scene. As soon as his eyes started to adjust to the light, he saw hundreds of people in the enormous room. On one corner of the room, opposite to where he was standing, the orchestra was playing a fast, almost fun, melody, and many of the western foreigners were happily dancing all over the dance floor. There were long tables with chairs, and on the tables were endless amounts of delicious-smelling food. Inuyasha scanned the room many times, but there were way too many people to quickly find the one person he was looking for. He never regretted not having his powerful sense of smell as much as he did that night.

He would have probably stood there all night if he hadn't noticed people were starting to stare at him. "C'mon..." he commanded as he walked to the dance floor, not once looking back at the girl he had imprisoned by the wrist.

Inuyasha pulled the girl close to him, looking at everything and everyone in the room except Ayumi. "Dammit...where are you?" he mumbled angrily.

For some minutes he danced placidly with Ayumi, but he never paid much attention to her, being too busy looking for a certain miko that was supposed to be there. He did notice a sudden dampness in the hand that was holding Ayumi's, but he figured she was just nervous for being seen dancing with a prince. However, a sudden gasp from the girl forced him to look at her.

And he couldn't believe his eyes.

**End of Scroll Fourteen

* * *

**

Reasons why this ends in a cliffhanger:

1. I feel bad for not updating in so long.

2. None of you guessed correctly to what's happening (not that I want you to, though...I want to surprise you!)

3. I have run into writer's block once again.

4. I'm still revising scroll two of this story. (I will not post any of the revised scrolls until I'm satisfied with all of them.)

Yup. Pretty lame excuses, but they're the truth. I swear I'll update as soon as I find time and ideas.

Adios!

And please, no more death threats.


	15. Lose Control: Part II

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Yahoo! Scroll Fifteen is finally here! Sorry it took so long! I'm a very busy bee this year! Er…last year. And Cerulean San, you're gonna be here (wearing your red kimono, of course.)! Yay! I know it's short, but please enjoy it!

Another thing, keep in mind when you're reading this that Inuyasha, although cute, is not very bright (when it comes to girls, anyway).

* * *

_Scroll Fifteen  
_Lose Control:  
Part II

She was beautiful.

Actually, that was putting it very lightly.

Her eyes, her lips, her hair, her skin, even her nose for crying out loud, were in perfect proportion to the shape of her face. Her skin so snowy-white. Her hair a stunning ebony. Her lips so ruby-red. And her eyes, her cinnamon-sweet eyes outlined in black with her long, fluttering eyelashes. Where had he seen those eyes before, so mysterious and so lovely? And why was he so captivated?

She also seemed very entranced by him. She stared hard at his face, as if not believing what she was seeing. Where had he seen those eyes?

He wanted to say something to her, anything, but he was at a sudden loss for words. It felt as if someone had just knocked the wind out of him, and he was having a hard time keeping pace with the music. _'I know I've seen her somewhere before…but where?'_

Almost immediately, he noticed his rough grip on her hand and loosened up a bit. He hadn't noticed how soft her hands were. "I…" he began, trying to think of something to say to her. "Do you live around here?" he asked, and slapped himself mentally for asking such a stupid question.

She didn't say anything at first, too busy still staring at his facial features. But when he asked again, it seemed his voice had broken whatever spell she was under and she looked dazed for a moment. She blinked hard and looked away, taking a sudden interest in the wooden floor. "Yes," she murmured without looking at him.

He wanted to look at her face again, in hopes that if he stared at it long enough, he might remember where he had seen her before. But Ayumi refused to make eye contact, and the sudden drain of warmth from her hands made him realize she must have seen something to startle her.

The orchestra, not having finished the pervious melody, started to play a new song, a much slower one. Inuyasha slowed down his pace, and led Ayumi more gently into the dance. Something about her made him treat her more gently. He was certain now he'd met her before, but who could she be? He hardly knew any humans, much less female humans. In fact, the only female human he'd engaged in conversation with was the priestess Kikyou…

Wait!

Kikyou!

"Hey…Kikyou," he said. All of the sudden, Ayumi's body went stiff, and even through the layer of white make-up he could see the color on her cheeks drain from her face as her eyes slowly widened. "Do you know her?"

For a reason Inuyasha could not comprehend, Ayumi collapsed onto him; her knees had gotten weak from all the dancing he guessed.

He held her gently until she regained her composure, not noticing the stares they were receiving from the other dancers dancing around them. "Hey, don't faint here," he said. "So do you know her? She was supposed to come here tonight," he said carefully, trying to sound as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I-uh, wasn't aware of that," said Ayumi, grabbing on to Inuyasha's shoulders as if her life depended on it.

"So you do know her?" he asked.

"I've…seen her now and then," she said in her squeaky voice. "May I ask, what is your relation to her?"

Inuyasha wasn't expecting that question. However, he quickly remembered he was a Prince tonight, and he answered indifferently, "I'm her future husband."

"Oh really?" she responded. He could see she was trying to hide her surprise to the news. "I didn't know she was engaged. She is a priestess after all."

"What the hell does that mean?" asked Inuyasha, curious as to why Ayumi would say that.

"Well, I heard priestesses can't marry, or have any sort of relationships with a man that is not friendship," she said timidly, as if being sorry for bearing the bad news to him.

"What!" he exclaimed, ignoring the startled looks thrown at him by the other dancers. Then why did Tomonori say he was engaged to Kikyou?

"I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this, my lord, but I speak the truth," she said sincerely.

"There must be some exception!" he said, as if Ayumi was an expert in marriage.

"I suppose, if the priestess wishes it, she could marry. But she'd have to give up all her duties and powers."

The part of him that was happy for hearing Kikyou could not marry Tomonori quickly dissolved to nothing, and he frowned at the thought of Kikyou giving up everything she was for that idiot Tomonori.

"She must be very fond of you for her to give up everything for you…"

Inuyasha looked at Ayumi as she once again refused to look directly at him. He felt as if she were talking to _him_, Inuyasha, rather than Tomonori. "So…?" he asked almost angrily. Was he not good enough to deserve the devotion of Kikyou?

She looked up at him then, and stared at him in apology. "I apologize, Lord Tomonori. I didn't mean it to sound the way it came out," she said. "I meant to say you two must be very close."

He didn't say anything after that, but danced with Ayumi gracefully instead, making sure he didn't squeeze her hand too tightly and trying his best not to call her a 'clumsy fool' every time he stepped on her foot.

Sometime during the slow dance, Inuyasha developed coyness when watching the one known as Ayumi. In all his life, he never imagined getting himself into a situation like the one he was presently in, posing as a Prince, dancing with a beautiful girl to foreign music. And in his vulnerable state at that. He was surprised he was able to dance at all; his muscles always got so weak after turning human. For a moment he forgot why he was dancing at all, but one look at his dancing partner reminded him. Kikyou. He sighed inwardly. Where had he gone wrong?

"TOMONORI!"

The loud voice broke him out of his depressing trance, and he frowned for being disturbed. Ayumi looked just as disturbed. "Um…Lord Tomonori…" she began.

"Huh?" Inuyasha responded after a pause. He kept forgetting who he was.

A sharp and long tug of his ponytail lead him to release his hold of Ayumi and instead, held on to his head in fear that his hair would be completely removed from his scalp. "What the hell?" he yelled in confusion.

"Tomonori, how could you?" screamed the feminine voice of the person attempting to steal his hair.

Inuyasha growled, and tried to pull his hair from the grasps of the aggressor. Whoever she was, she was lucky Inuyasha was in human form. Inuyasha painfully commanded, "Fucking let me go!"

Fortunately for Inuyasha, with a loud "Sorry!" she instantly let go, and Inuyasha spun around to face the woman how dared touch his raven locks.

By this time, a moderately large crowd had circled the screaming prince, though the orchestra continued to play dramatically in the background. However, when Inuyasha found no one where his attacker should had been, he became much angrier than he already was. "Attacking from behind is your style, huh? Show yourself, wench!"

"TOMONORI!" he heard again, though this time, a hard slap in the face directed him to where his aggressor was; she was right in front of him. "I'm down here, you idiot!" she screamed.

In front of a very startled Inuyasha stood a girl (a very _short _girl) with long, beautiful black hair held up in a style similar to his. Her brown eyes seemed hurt but determined to show him that no, she wasn't a wench, and that yes, she was talking to _him_. A crimson kimono dressed her figure, a kimono with a fair amount of platinum fish adorning it. She didn't wear much make-up; it seemed she was proud of her tropically tanned skin.

"Who the fuck are you?" Inuyasha asked, ignoring the astonished stares of some of the more fluent Japanese foreigners.

The girl looked taken aback, as if she had just received a slap in the face herself. She suddenly took notice of the girl behind the prince. "And who is that?" she demanded more than asked.

"Hello! I asked you that first!" yelled Inuyasha, getting impatient with the girl.

The girl looked hurt again. "You're so mean, Tomonori!" she exclaimed. "Have you forgotten the promise you made me already?" And without warning, she wrapped her arms around him, and locked him in a hug. "I'll forgive you if you say you're sorry…" she mumbled into his chest. "Hey, did you get taller?"

"Who the hell are you!" screamed Inuyasha, blushing a vibrant cherry color.

By this time, it seemed she had lost patience with the prince, and grabbed tightly to the sides of his shoulders with her small hands. "I'm Kikyou, dummy! KIKYOU!"

****

"It's the only way I can keep my promise to Kikyou!"

"...I made a promise to her."

"I promised her that I wouldn't touch another girl if she becomes my bride."

She was…

It was her?

"Y…**You're Kikyou?**" Were his ears functioning correctly? This was the Kikyou he had come for? This was Tomonori's Kikyou?

"This way, Lady Kikyou!"

WHAT?

He snapped his head back to where the voice came from, almost dislocating his neck in the process.

He saw Ayumi being dragged off.

Oh.

Shit.

End of Scroll Fifteen

* * *

I know this was rushed. Sorry! But don't you feel better finally reading this chapter:dodges bullets and tomatoes:  
About my reviews…Nah, I wasn't offended by the death threats, just a bit disturbed. Please don't go checking if I've updated at 2:00 a.m. in the morning cause that will not be very likely. Otherwise, thanks a bunch for being so loyal. I will now cry myself to sleep (from happiness).

Adios!


	16. Nobody Told Me

If you were keeping up with my profile, sorry for not updating on the promised day. Something came up…

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Well…except the OCs.

Guess who's back…back again…Mex-chick's back…tell a friend.

I missed you guys! Really I did! I can't believe I haven't written in forever! Well, you probably don't care about me, just the story, huh? Well, FINE THEN! Here's Scroll 16.

* * *

_Scroll 16  
_**Nobody Told Me**

It took a moment for Inuyasha's brain to process the recent information he had just received, but he was starting to understand everything now.

The Kikyou standing in front of him was the Kikyou Tomonori had been babbling about all along, right? But he had never met _this_ Kikyou before. So the Kikyou _he_ knew wasn't here? But wait. The girl he was dancing with a few minutes ago said her name way Ayumi, yet as she was being dragged away, she was being referred to as _Kikyou._

'_Then…was _Ayumi_ the Kikyou I've been looking for all along!'_

He stood very still, letting all the information sink in, and he vaguely heard the commotion the other Kikyou was making. "I was…I…she…we…" he mumbled incoherently to himself. "It can't be…" he continued. _'I mean…would she really pretty herself up to enter a beauty contest and have a tryst with a rich guy!' _he mentally screamed at himself, as if the mere idea was too ludicrous to utter out loud.

"HELLO? Have you forgotten about me!" screamed a shorter Kikyou, waving her hands in front of who she thought was her fiancé. "And who the hell are you talking about?" She tugged on Inuyasha's raven mane once more, which painfully brought him back to Earth.

"Damn you, girl!" he cursed, taking his hair out of her grasps. "Can't you even tell that I'm _not_ your fiancé?" he growled, making "Kikyou" take a step back at his brutish behavior. "Are you sure you want to marry a guy you _obviously_ don't know that well?" he continued, making her feel vulnerable as he towered over her petite figure and barked out his comments. "Now…I suggest you get out of my way before I _make_ you get out of my way…"

Kikyou looked back at his strangely colored eyes, and although she was taking mild steps back from him, she didn't completely let him intimidate her. Inuyasha stared back at her hard, wanting to make sure Kikyou understood he really meant what he said.

"Well if you're not Tomonori, then who are you and what have you done to him?" she demanded, deliberately standing in front of him so he wouldn't escape.

Inuyasha didn't feel obligated to tell this wench who he was or where Tomonori had run off to (because he didn't know either, but she didn't have to know that), so instead he said, "I didn't do anything to that idiot! This was _his_ idea!"

"You mean…" Kikyou suddenly looked very scary. "You mean he made me look like an idiot on _purpose_!"

The crowd around them gasped as if they were watching a dramatic play unfolding spectacularly before their eyes. The orchestra continued playing their melodramatic background music, though no one was paying any attention to them any longer. The only thing that seemed to genuinely interest them was the loud Kikyou and her "Prince Tomonori."

Inuyasha cringed back from the most frightening woman he had ever met. He could swear at this very moment there were flames roaring in the brown of her eyes.

"WHERE IS HE!" she roared with a voice he was sure was too great to be hers.

"I-I don't know!" he screamed back, trying in vain to match the rage in her voice.

She suddenly turned around, her eyes darting fiercely from one face to another, and Inuyasha guessed she was looking for Tomonori. The crowd started to dissipate (perhaps in fear of being caught in the line of fire), and this gave Inuyasha just enough time to escape the wrath of the angry Kikyou. He dashed to the closest hallway he spotted, quickly yanked off all the robes he was wearing and ran off deeper into the dark hallway (mind you, he _is_ wearing his original underneath all those robes, so he's not running around naked…sorry girls Oo). "Damn it…if that Ayumi _is _Kikyou, then…then…"

Then what? He couldn't demand an explanation…or he _could_ but…would she give one? It wasn't as if it was his business either but…damn it! He already knew she wasn't getting married to that loser Tomonori, so he was a lot calmer now but…why in the seven hells did she accept to be with Tomonori? He knew about the beauty contest but…damn it!

Damn it, damn it, dammit!

He didn't understand anything at all!

He _had to know!_

It was vital to his sanity and sleep!

He cursed mentally and slammed a fist through the wall closest to him, regretting it when it started to hurt. He wasn't sure where to find her! Was she still in the castle or back in her hut? "I'm here already, so I might as well look…" he grunted to himself, and he sped off to find the priestess.

--

After what seemed like hours of running, Kikyou finally got the chance to breath in steady amounts of air when the maid practically shoved her into a dark and musty room. The maid lit many candles around the room and Kikyou observed that she was in a small bedroom with only a futon, a blanket and four small tables in each corner of the room where the candles sat. And it still looked cramped.

"Home, sweet home!" she said with false enthusiasm. "I'd offer you a seat but as you can see, I have none!"

Kikyou looked back at the maid, the purple flower on her short, brown hair had already fallen. "…Kaori, what have you gotten me into?"

Kaori tangled and untangled her fingers repeatedly. "Um…hold that thought, Lady Kikyou," she finally said. She pulled back the blanket from the futon and there appeared Kikyou's priestess clothes. She gathered them quickly and handed them to Kikyou. "I think you should change back into this."

Kikyou, now very curious and very angry, took her clothes into her arms. "Thanks…" she managed to say through mildly clenched teeth.

"Don't worry, I won't look!" Kaori squealed and turned her back towards the priestess and covered her eyes with her hands for extra security.

Kikyou frowned and coldly glared at Kaori's back. She saw Kaori shiver. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you…" she said, her small shoulders slumping, though she didn't turn to face Kikyou.

Kikyou started to undress while she waited for Kaori to start her explanations.

"Well…see Lady Kikyou…" she started. "I…oh gosh, this is _always _so awkward…"

Kaori started to wiggle around in place, and it looked like she was about to begin stomping her foot.

"Kaori…?"

"I'm fine! It's just that…look, I'll just say it!" she announced, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. "Lady Kikyou, I, Kaori, am a seer!"

There was a strange pause after Kaori's outburst. Kikyou stared hard at her back again. "Kaori, I asked you seriously. Stop fooling around."

"See! See why I didn't want to tell you? I knew you wouldn't believe me!" she whined, and this time she really did stomp her foot. "I foresaw it!"

"Are…are you telling me you can see into the future?" Kikyou had seen many strange and mystical things, but even _she _didn't believe in fortune tellers. She was sure there used to be a few real ones long ago, but their popularity had spread so much it sprouted many imposters looking for easy money.

"Well, the big world-changing things come to me as visions…" she whispered, her shoulders slumping again. "But for the smaller, more personal ones…I read the minds…"

'_Do you really expect me to believe this?'_

"Please believe me, Lady Kikyou! I swear on my life I'm not lying!" she cried with her squeaky voice.

'_I really didn't take you for the lying type, Kaori.'_

"No! No, Lady Kikyou! I swear I'm not a liar!" she pleaded, turning to look at the priestess in the eye so she would believe her.

Kikyou looked off guard for a split second. Then she smirked. "I didn't say anything."

This stumped Kaori for a second, before smiling broadly at the priestess. "See! SEE! I read your mind! I read your mind!"

Kikyou was already dressed and was tying back her long, ebony hair with her familiar white ribbon. She sighed. "All right, Kaori. Continue."

Kaori clapped her hands in excitement and sat on the floor. Kikyou sat in front of her. For some reason, Kaori averted Kikyou's eyes. Kaori cleared her throat dramatically. "It all started when I went to your village to warn a woman that if she married the rich guy instead of the poor guy, her future children would all die," she chattered casually. "I was on my way back to the castle when…

_**A little raccoon demon scurried by carrying two fish in its tiny paws. Not far behind came another demon, a much larger one, chasing the smaller one.**_

"_**Give me back my fish, you little punk!" he screamed angrily at the little raccoon demon.**_

"_**Gimme bak mai fishhhh!" mimicked the little raccoon demon, looking back at his aggressor. He yelped when the larger demon caught him.**_

"_**Did you really think you could outsmart me by playing that stupid multiplication trick on me?" he growled. "All I had to do was sniff out the real thief!" he gloated, holding his victim by the tail.**_

"_**You're right, you're right!" cried the little demon, handing over the fish to his bully. "I should have known better!"**_

"_**You got that right!" smirked the other demon, his stomach growling when he got back his fish. "You little shrimp, I'm gonna eat this so go away and don't try anything stupid again, or I'll really kill you!"**_

"_**I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" pleaded the little demon. The big one finally let go of the little one and decided to stay awhile to tower over the little raccoon some more. In a flash, the little raccoon's head sprouted a huge red bump. "OW! Why'd you do that for!"**_

"_**Don't mess with me again, little shrimp!" yelled the object of the little raccoon's pain. "Maybe next time I'll be hungry enough to eat you!" he said as a way of intimidating him.**_

"_**No! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the little raccoon panted, forgetting about the red bump on his head. "I…I want to give you this to show you how sorry I am!" he said, pulling out a little statue from the inside of his shirt.**_

_**The little raccoon didn't give his enemy enough time to answer, and simply shoved the statue into his hand. With a loud POP, the little statue morphed into a huge replica of its tiny self, crushing the big demon's hand onto the ground.**_

_**The demon glared at the raccoon. "Why you little…!"**_

_**The little raccoon quickly snatched the fish the big demon had dropped to the ground and poked his tongue out at the big demon. "You're no match for me!" he said triumphantly. He scurried away and turned around briefly to yell one final thing to his bully. "I hope you stay there forever, half-breed!"**_

"It turns out that that _'half-breed'_ is called Inuyasha," Kaori said silently staring at the floor, sensing the sudden change of humor in the priestess. "From the outside, he looked angry at being called a half-breed, but I could _feel _the pain he was feeling on the inside."

"He doesn't like being called that," added Kikyou in a whisper. "I think it reminds him of things he'd rather forget."

"I was compelled to help him when I felt that raw emotion coming from him. When I looked into his eyes, I saw everything…his past, his present, his future. It was pretty clouded though," she said, smiling slightly. "When a person starts losing faith, it makes it harder for me to read their minds. That guy has some serious inner demons…

"But there was always one thing, one light in all three stages of time that allowed me to briefly see his life. In his past, the light was his mother, in the present and the future, it was you."

Kikyou's eyes widened. "…Me?"

"You," assured Kaori, meeting the priestess' gaze.

Kikyou's heart fluttered. Did that mean what she thought it meant? "In the present…_and_ the future?"

"Bear with me, Lady Kikyou," said Kaori, turning more serious and looking back at the floor. "There are some points in his life where I can't see a thing, which means something really bad happens to him, so extreme that he completely loses faith. There was a blank when he was little and I'm assuming it was when his mother died. The other…" Kaori hesitated and looked at her hands, which were on her lap. "The other has yet to come…"

Kikyou's face hardened. "I'm involved, aren't I?"

Kaori slowly nodded her inclined head. "I'm not really sure what happens, because it's so clouded over. It's an even darker moment than when his mother dies…" Kaori met Kikyou's eyes once again. "I'm sorry, Lady Kikyou! I wish my gift was more developed…maybe then I'd be able to blow over those clouds."

"It's alright, Kaori…" calmly said Kikyou, "Thanks for the warning, I guess…"

"Wait, there's more…" said Kaori sheepishly. She wrung her hands together, looking at them nervously. "When I said you're also his light in the future…it's _you_, but it's _not _you."

Kikyou blinked. "What?"

"It looks like_ you_, but it doesn't _feel_ like you."

Kikyou arched an eyebrow. "…Huh?"

"I'm sorry, I don't really know either, but I guess you can tell me if we meet again in the future whether I was right or wrong," she said, smiling sadly. Kaori took a deep breath and took Kikyou's hands in her own. "Lady Kikyou, I'm sorry, so sorry, but your future if filled with darkness and there are shadows everywhere, I really don't want to know any more! I can't even look straight at you without seeing…unimaginable previews of your life!"

This last outburst from Kaori scared Kikyou so much she started to tremble. Kikyou grabbed Kaori's shoulders. "Kaori…Kaori what are you saying!" she yelled, shaking her. "Whatever it is, say it! Say it! Say something, Kaori!"

Kikyou's sudden wrath caught Kaori off guard. "TRAGIC!" screamed Kaori. "That's your life in one word! Tragic!"

Kikyou let go of the younger girl as if contact with her stung. She collapsed onto the floor, not caring that it felt cold and hard. She stared at the ceiling; it looked just as cold and hard. Like her life, maybe? "Tragic, huh?"

"I'm sorry, Lady Kikyou…I didn't mean to say it like that, but you kind of scared me."

Kikyou continued staring at the ceiling. There was a cold silence in the room, very different from the warm atmosphere in the castle.

Kikyou couldn't believe it. It just…it just couldn't be true! How was it that both she and Inuyasha were destined to lives full of strife and sorrow? What had they done to deserve this? Why them? _Why?_ What was it about them that attracted bad luck? What had they done? _What?_

'_Life's just…not fair…'_

"You're right, Lady Kikyou…" Kaori murmured. "Life isn't fair…to anyone. Don't think for one minute you or Inuyasha are the only ones who suffer in this world…in this _life_…because you're not." She wrapped her arms around her knees. "We all experience pleasure and pain, smiles and tears, life…and death."

"So somehow…we're all connected," whispered Kikyou, still entranced by the ceiling.

Kaori smiled. "That's right…"

"Like a spider's web."

"Yeah." Kaori shifted. "Speaking of spiders…"

"Wait. So why did you make me come here anyway?" said Kikyou, finally sitting up. She was desperate to get her mind off of the predictions of Kaori's. Damn it, this is _now_ and she would live it. Later, she would make sure things didn't turn outthe wayKaori said they would.

"Oh, that's right. I haven't told you that!" squealed Kaori happily, sitting up straight. "Well, since I saw all this…drama in his future, I decided to make life fun for him in the present!" she said, smiling happily. "And for you too," she added quickly when she heard a thought the priestess was thinking.

"Oh," was Kikyou's response. "How was tonight fun, again?"

"Well, for starters, how are your feet?"

"What?" Kikyou asked, honestly confused by the random questioning of Kaori.

"Your feet. They got stepped on once or twice didn't they?" she asked, giggling. "That _Prince Tomonori _and his feet-stepping."

"Are you reading my mind or did you foresee this?"

"I knew you were going to dance with him, but I can't see _every_ single detail. I'm reading your mind," she admitted. "And how'd you feel when he asked you for 'Kikyou'?"

Kikyou shuddered at the thought. "I thought I'd been caught! And then he said I was _engaged_ to him!"

At this, Kaori let out a real laugh, and she clutched her sides from the pain of laughing so hard.

Kikyou silently watched. "It wasn't funny."

"Did-did you at least enjoy the dance?"

"Yeah…when he didn't step or yell at me."

At this remark, Kaori let out a burst of giggles, and soon she was looking for a bathroom. Kikyou didn't know why her pain was so amusing. She stared at Kaori without a single trace of amusement in her eyes.

"Aw…c'mon Lady Kikyou…why can't you see the up side of down? At least he was good eye candy, right?"

"…" Kikyou didn't respond and took a sudden interest in the wall.

Kikyou's withdrawn behavior only encouraged Kaori to keep prying deeper.

"I think he's cute," she started. "What do you think?"

Kikyou gave a quick nod of her head.

"Say it, Lady Kikyou! It only us in here, and I won't tell. Promise!"

Kikyou felt flustered. "You can read my mind so you already know," she said quickly.

"C'mon…" whined Kaori.

"Look, Kaori. Supposedly, you did this so I could have fun…and Inuyasha too, right?" asked Kikyou, eager to change the subject.

Kaori nodded.

"What kind of torture did you make Inuyasha go through then?"

Kaori laughed what Kikyou later would recall as the laugh of an evil child.

"I'll just say this…Prince Tomonori already knows you're not 'Ayumi'."

Kikyou could feel herself get pale. "……..What?"

"And another thing. Prince Tomonori wasn't Prince Tomonori," she smirked. "Didn't he remind you of…someone else?"

While Kikyou sat shocked and flabbergasted, Kaori smiled gently. "Lady Kikyou, I'm going far away with those foreigners from the party. I don't think I can do more than I've already done around here…I foresaw it!" Kaori stood up and dusted herself. "Well, I've gotta go back to work before my boss notices I'm missing!"

Kikyou heard her, but she was still digesting the information she received earlier. …_someone else…?_ "Inu…Inuyasha!"

"Take care, Lady Kikyou," she heard Kaori say.

"Inuyasha…was human!" but Kikyou wasn't really listening.

Kikyou heard a sliding door open and close and assumed that Kaori had left, but she didn't hear the last thing Kaori said:

"Watch out for spiders...at least now you can't say nobody told you..."

**End of Scroll 16

* * *

**

Ooooohhhhhh…..did you guys enjoy the story? So? This answer all the questions you guys had about the previous chapters?

Yes? No? Maybe So?

I know most of you guys are very confused by the storyline and respond with:

A) "WTF!"

B) "Hahahaha! I have no idea what's going on but it's funny anyway!"

C) "I get it! This authoress is a genius! A GENIUS!"

D) "When are Kikyou and Inuyasha gonna make out, damn it!"

E) "(Insert personal response)"

Which one of these options best fits your reading experience? Don't you hate taking surveys? I would love taking a survey about hating to take surveys. Y'know what? Don't choose an answer. Don't do it. Don't. Don't! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

……(do it!)

…So if you got questions, you might as well ask while I'm in the mood to answer. I know some of you won't review cause you have some burning passion to get back at me for not updating in 4EVER so that's okay…you're all entitled to your own opinion and your own methods of revenge. But I still luvs you guys. Really, I do. That's why I'm ranting. And making this as long as possible. Cause I hate y--I mean, I LUV YA'LLS.

You know, I don't really love you guys cause I don't know you…yet I do. WHY IS LOVE SO COMPLICATED! I…let's see, what's the right word?…Aha! I _appreciate_ every single one of you guys; especially for reviewing my story even though I was experiencing a difficult and long hiatus. Y'know this reminds me of a long and boring story of my childhood years...

(THREE HOURS LATER)

...and that's when I decided to become a writer.

But yeah…well, review if you feel like it!

Adios!

Well, if you're still reading this repeat this next line as loud as you can without thinking about it:

I AM SOFA KING WEE TODD ED

(courtesy of my english teacher (he used to make us say that!) )


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